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CELEBRATION 

OF THE NINETIETH ANN1\ i.iv. . ■ .v\ OF 
AMEJF^CAN lyiiEi'-XFENri'. 



TAMMANY HALL 



WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 1866. 



K E W Y O R K : 
THE NEW YORK PRINTING CO., 8i, S? & 85 CENTRE sr 

1866. 



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CELEBRATION 

AT 

TAMMANY HALL, 

OF THE 

NINETIETH ANNIVERSARY 

OF THE DECLARATION OF 

American Independence 

BY THE 

Tammany Society, 

OR COLUMBIAN ORDER, 

Wednesday, Jul}^ 4th, 1866. 



PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE TAMMANY SOCIETY. 



NEW YORK: 

THE NEW YORK PRINTING COMPANY, 8i, 83 & 85 CENTRE STREET. 

1866. 



"The Union Must and Shall be Preserved!" 



^^3^ 



'^^9^ 




TAMMANY SOCIETY, 

Or Columbian Order. 



TAMMANY HALL, 

New York, June 23, 1866. 

The Tammany Sociktv, or Columbian Order, cordially invites you to take part 
in its Celebration of the Anniversary of our National Independence, which it has 
never failed to honor since the foundation of the Society in 1789. 

The confliiSt of arms has ceased; the Rebellion has been suppressed; but alas! the 
perfeift Union bequeathed to us by our patriotic forefathers has not yet been restored. 
The authority of the ( Joveniment has been vindic;ited ; the Flag of tlie Union now 
floats triumphantly over every foot of Vational domain ; but eleven sovereign States 
are still denied representation in the Federal Congress, and are not recognised as co- 
ordinate parts of the nation. The Union, which could not be divided by force, has 
been pra<5lically annulled by partisan politicians in Congress. 

The exclusion of eleven States from participation in the Government is no less trea- 
sonable, morally, when effected by partisan votes, than when attempted by a rebel- 
lious resort to arms. During the recent Civil War, the Tammany Society sent its sons 
to fight for the Union, and with unswerving fidelity heartily supported the Federal 
Government in its struggle with sedition. Now that the war is ended, the South re- 
formed and repentant, the treasonable spirit expelled from the land, and the Constitution 
preserved in its integrity fi-om the assaults of the armies of the Rebellion, the Tammany 
Society turns with the same unwavering patriotism to resist, by its influence, its argu- 
ments, and whatever of political power it may possess, the efforts of partisanship to 
wrest from us that luiity and prosperity which are the legitimate compensations for our 
s.icrifices. and the natural fruits of oar victories. 

The Tammany Society, therefore, invites to her celebration all those who believe 
the Union was created to be peipetual ; that the States are equal under the Constitution ; 
that the restoration of the Union by the recent war ought to be acknowledged and 
recognised by all Departments of the Federal Government : that a spirit of fraternity and 
magnanimity shoidd prevail in all our councils and our policy ; and that the South, having 
accepted the lessons of the war and relinquished the heresies of secession, should be at 
once admitted to her constitutional representation. 



Sachem JOHN KELLY, 

WILLIAM M. TWEED, 
MATTHEW T. BRENNAN, 
ISAAC BELL, 
PETER B SWEENY, 
EMANUEL B. HART, 



Sachem CHARLES G. GORNELL, 
JAMES B. NICHOLSON, 
WILLIAM McMURRAY, 
NATHANIEL JARVIS, Jr., 
JOHN J. BRADLEY, 
DANIEL E DELAVAN. 



HENRY VANDEWATER, Treasurer. GEORGE W. ROOME, Sagamore. 

STEPHEN C. DURYEA, Wiskinski. 
WILSON SMALL, Secretary. JOHN T. HOFFMAN, Grand Sachem. 

James Watson, Scribe of the Council. 

Please address your answer to John T. Hoffman, City Hall, New York. 



1 AMMANY Society. 



SEVENTY-EIGHTH CELEBRATION. 



On the Fourth day of July, 1866, the Tammany 
Society or Columbian Order, for the Seventy-Eighth 
time, solemnly commemorated the birthday of the 
Nation. The responses to the invitation issued 
by the Society, which is reproduced on the oppo- 
site page, sufficiently indicate, by their charader 
and importance, that this was considered the chief 
celebration of the day throughout the country. 

The following was the programme of the cele- 
bration : 



r PROGRAMME r 



K 



Sachem John Kelly, 

" William M. Tweed, 
" Matthew T. Brennan, 
" Isaac Bell, 
" Peter B. Sweeny, 
" Emanuel B. Hart, 



^ 



OF THE CELEliRATION BY THE 

TAMMANY SOCIETY 

OR COLUMBIAN ORDER, ^ 

OK THE NINETIETH ^ 

Anniversary of our National Independence, ^ 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4th, 1866. ""^ 



The members of the Tammany Society will meet at the Old Wig^vam at 
half-past eleven o'clock. At twelve o'clock, the doors of the Grand Council 
Chamber will be thrown open, and the Sachems, Warriors and Chiefs will assem- 
ble on the grand platform in the Large Hall. 

The Tammany Regiment Band 

Will perform National Airs until the commencement of the Exercises, which 
will be at one o'clock, P. M., precisely. 



^X 



ORDER OF EXERCISES : ^ 

Overture— National Airs Tammany Band, i^ 

OPENING ADDRESS. .Grand Sachem JOHN T. HOFFMAN. 7 

The Star Spangled Banner — Sung by twenty-four boys from the Public '"^ 

Schools, under the direction of Prof. Olney. \J^ 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, read by ^^ 

Hon. EDWARD H. ANDERSON. ^ 

" My Country 'Tis of Thee," and " The Boys Come Marching," ' 

Vocal Band. ^ 

ORIGINAL POEM— Written for the occasion, by.. .HENRY MORFORD. ,'i 

THE FUTURE OF COLUMBIA— Original Ode, by Prof. OLNEY. >^ 

SELECTIONS from the correspondence of distinguished citizens, read by ^ 

Brother ROBERT C. HUTCHINGS. (^ 

ORATION, Hon. RICHARD O'GORMAN. /^ 

ADDRESSES By Hon. S. S. COX, ]j 

Hon. EDWARDS PIERREPONT, <^ 

And other distinguished Brothers and Guests. 'a 

The Marseillaise, The Vocal Band, accompanied by _^ 

The Tammany Band, u 



Committee of Arrangements : rS' 



Sachem Charles G. Cornell, ,S 

James B. Nicholson, H 

" William McMurray, S 

" Nathaniel Jarvis, Jr., {^^ 

" John J. Bradlhy, ^ 

" Daniel E. Dklavan, ^ xA 






• 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 7 

The Old Hall, hallowed by so many noble memo- 
ries, was fitly decorated. For this, the thanks of 
the Society are due to the Committee who had 
charge of this matter, and especially to Messrs. 
Nathaniel Jarvis, Jr., Andrew J. Garvey, James 
Watson, and James B. Nicholson, the Father of 
the Council. These gentlemen, with Mayor Hoff- 
man and the other members of the Committee, 
organized a success. They took care that no 
detail was negle6led, and exercised effe6lual super- 
vision over every part of the celebration from first 
to last. The result was a national festival unsur- 
passed in the history of the country. 

The doors of Tammany Hall were opened at 
noon, and the Tammany band performed patriotic 
airs from the balcony until one o'clock. 

The platform was draped with the American 
flag. Above it was a bust of Washington, with 
the sacred motto: 



"One Country, One Constitution, 

One Destiny, 

1776— 1866." 



^ %/X/% ■V'V^ V'VA -VVV VX/V %/V^ "VV^ -X/V^ 'VV^ V^V-V X/X^ 'VX'V VA^*. 'V'VV 'V^^ 



At one side of the platform was the motto 



Tammany Society. 



t "The Tammany Society, Founded in 1789. < 

< In its very foundation identified with the estabHshment < 

t of the Union. Ever faithful to its obhgations, j 

\ she has added another proof of her devo- \ 

I tion by sending forth her sons to \ 

i prote6l and maintain it." \ 



k-'WV'WV'>/W'VW^ 



At the other side was the motto : 

J " The Democratic Party — < 

\ Upon its union and success depend the future of the ^ 

* RepubHc. He who would seek to lower its * 

\ standard of patriotism and principle, or to \ 

J divide or distract its councils, is an * 

> enemy to the country." ? 

Busts of Jackson, Clay, Webster, and Franklin, 
ornamented the right side of the room, with the 
mottoes : 

> " The Union must and shall be preserved." 
\ " Eternal hostility to every form of tyranny." i 
I "Civil and Religious Liberty, the Rights of man." 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 9 

The coats-of-arms of the original thirteen States 
adorned the walls. A stanza from the " Flag of 
our Union " reminded the audience of the brother- 
hood of hearts and hands, as well as of States. 

In a conspicuous position hung a solemn ban- 
ner, embroidered with black and inscribed : 



.■MlUJl.iU.MIUJWmi 



To the Memo?y of the departed Braves , 
Shepard, Conner, 

VosBURG, Kennedy, 

Froment, Clancy, 

PURDY. 



The comments of the daily press on the appear- 
ance of the Hall and the chara6ler of the celebra- 
tion will be found in an Appendix. 

At one o'clock the officers and orators of the 
Society entered the Hall amid general applause. 
Mayor Hoffman and the Hon. Richard O 'Gorman 
led the procession ; and following them were 
Edwards Pierrepont, Samuel G. Courtney, Samuel 
S. Cox, August Belmont, John Kelly, Andrew H. 
Green, Samuel B. Garvin, Thomas W. Gierke, 
Andrew J. Garvey, Isaac Bell, M. T. Brennan, 
Robert C. Hutchings, Edward H. Anderson, Mor- 
gan Jones, James B. Nicholson, Peter B. Sweeny, 



lo Tammany Society. 

Richard B. Connolly, J. R. Brodhead, John J. 
Bradley, James M. Sweeny, Eli P. Norton, and 
others, all wearing the appropriate scarfs and 
badges of Old Tammany. The members of the 
Society, with their guests, having taken seats upon 
the platform, his Honor Mayor Hoffman, Grand 
Sachem, welcomed the assemblage by the follow- 
ing address : 

ADDRESS OF GRAND SACHEM HOFFMAN. 

Brothers and Friends — I welcome you heartily to 
this old wigwam, within which, for more than half a cen- 
tury, the Tammany Society has with unfailing regularity 
celebrated the anniversary of American independence. 
Its venerable walls bear the marks of time, and are 
blackened with the smoke of many a council-fire and 
many a conflict. In outward show it compares but poor- 
ly with the gilded temples of some more modern political 
associations ; but in its ancient and honorable record — its 
glorious past and its bright future — it outshines them all. 
(Applause.) During the years of fearful struggle through 
which the nation has just passed, while other places, 
more elegant and more fashionable, were the resort of 
those who assumed to themselves much of the patriotism 
and loyalty of the land, Old Tammany was thrown wide 
open as a recruiting-place for a class of patriots who were 
willing to fight, as well as to talk, for their country. 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 1 1 

(Loud applause.) Brave men went forth from here who 
either died upon the battle-field or have returned, after an 
honorable discharge, to labor and to vote for the speedy- 
restoration of that Union for the maintenance of which 
they hazarded their lives. Tammany Hall, true to its 
ancient record, never yielded to the demands of fanaticism 
or faltered in devotion to the Constitution (applause) ; 
and now that peace has come, it demands that with peace 
shall come " good-will to men." 

It sustained the war, as waged for the preservation of 
the Union and the Constitution ; and, having triumphed, 
it demands that neither the one nor the other shall be 
tampered with by politicians or fanatics, in Congress or 
out of it. (Applause.) 

On this anniversary of the independence of the United 
States of America, it asserts, not as a theory, but as a 
fa6l, that the States are united ; that they are equal 
under the Constitution ; and that the avowed determina- 
tion of a Radical Congress to refuse representation to 
eleven of them, is a gross assumption and abuse of politi- 
cal power, which deserves to be and will be rebuked by 
an intelligent people. 

It demands, and will insist, before the country, that 
the people of those eleven States, having abandoned the 
heresy of secession, and submitted to the authority of the 
government, should have immediate representation in the 
persons of men who are true to the Constitution and the 
laws (applause) ; and that radical partisans shall not, for 
the sake of perpetuating their political power, keep asun- 



1 2 Tammany Society. 

der those States, for the eternal union of which hundreds 
of thousands of brave men have perished, and thousands 
of millions in treasure have been expended. {" Never." 
Cheers.) 

In making these demands it is ready to start anew, in 
concert with conservative men everywhere, in a deter- 
mined effort to overthrow those who, now that war is 
ended, will have no peace ; and who, now that disunion is 
killed, will have no Union. (Cheers.) 

William D. Kennedy went forth the leader of a Tam- 
many regiment, and died its representative. Before he 
went he joined with us in placing in front of the Old 
Wigwam, Jackson's motto : " The Union, it must be pre- 
served." Elijah F. Purdy, my immediate predecessor, in 
his proper sphere, did noble service in the good cause, 
and died on the last anniversary of that great battle 
which gave to Jackson immortality. (Applause.) One by 
one the old braves have passed by, but the younger war- 
riors retain their spirit and will vindicate their memories. 
They choose this day to start anew upon the war-path, 
and will not bury the tomahawk until all enemies of the 
Union of the States, and of the rights of the States, shall 
be overthrown. (Cheers.) 

The proprieties of the occasion, and the manifold 
exercises of the day, forbid a reference by me to great 
questions of national and State and local policy, which 
will at the proper time be discussed. 

I again welcome you to the old wigwam. It may be 
the last time we shall assemble here. It is full of bright 



Sevenly-EigJith Celebration. 1 3 

memories of the past and great hopes of the future ; but 
it must soon give place to a new and more commodious 
one, which, in the greatness of its proportions and the 
harmony of all its parts, will be emblematical of the 
Union of- which it is the representative. (Cheers.) Let 
a voice go forth from here to-day which will be heard 
throughout the land. (Cheers.) 

Twenty-four boys from the public schools, led 
by Professor Olney, sang " The Star-Spangled Ban- 
ner." They were enthusiastically applauded. 

The Hon. Edward H. Anderson next read the 
Declaration of Independence in an effe61ive and im- 
pressive manner; nearly every sentence as it fell from 
the lips of the reader was received with applause. 

" My Country, 'tis of Thee," was sung by the 
school-boys, led by Professor Olney. 

Mr. Henry Morford then read, amid frequent and 
loud applause, the following original patriotic poem : 

AMERICA IN ENGLAND. 

By HENRY MORFORD. 

Last year when the guns of the Fourth thundered out, 

I was packing my trunk for a run o'er the waters, 
To see what the sons of John Bull were about, 

And to glance — yes, I own it — at some of his daughters ! 
Last year, when the black poles still clung to the Hall, 

From which upward had flashed fiery rocket and streamer, 
I was watching the great waves rise, threaten and fall, 

From the stern of my flying and far-away steamer. 



14 Tammany Society. 

Last year, when the noise of the pistols yet rung, 

In the ears tliat had heard them bang louder and louder, 

I stood on the shore of our Old Mother Tongue, 
Quite as saucy as any John Bull, and much prouder. 

And what was I doing there — spying the land ? 

Of course, and the good looks of places and people ; 
And enjoying the old, where so massively stand 

Gray monument, turret, and ivy-grown steeple. 
But something besides I was bound to seek out ; 

And I sought it, and found it, by word and by a6lion ; 
And when I had found it, there isn't a doubt 

But I chuckled with terribly grim satisfa6lion. 

What I wanted to know, was, how near to our blood 

Was the blood of the land that once gave us existence ; 
How many hard words, shouted over the flood. 

Were caused by misstatement, and blunders and distance ; 
How England looked on the big child that one day 

Grew too strong for her hold and flew off like a rocket, 
Because it disliked her particular way 

Of sticking her fingers too deep in its pocket ; 
What was Britain's true heart towards the Land of the West, 

That even to please her refused to play second, 
And fought its own fights in the way it liked best, 

And by millions its patriot soldiery reckoned. 

Well, England don't like us ; the story is brief. 

And I read it ere tarrying long in her borders : 
Not alone, as I found, from her personal grief 

At our daring escape from her taxes and orders ; 
Not alone from that jealousy old people show, 

For the young, free from ills with which later years brand us ; 
But simply because — don't you see — yes, you know — 

Humph — the truth is — why, blarst it, she can't understand us J 

It was Addison told us (an Englishman, he) 

Long ago, in that genial and pleasant Spectator, 

Of an instance he lately had happened to see. 

Of the poultry-yard teaching our proud " human natur : " 



Seventy- Eighth Celebration. 1 5 

Of the hen that had hatched out a dozen of ducks, 
That wouldn't be chickens for teaching or trimming, 

And how, thinking them drowning, most sad were her chicks 
Round the puddle in which her young rebels were swimming. 

Well, Old England, I think, did as reckless a thing. 

When she hatched out this stalwart Colonial chicken 
That wouldn't stay under her step-mother wing. 

However the omens might threaten and thicken. 
Old England, I think, always opens her eyes. 

And clucks, as a feeble old grandmother ought to. 
When she sees, with a hen's very funny surprise. 

How her duckies will rush into very deep water. 

" Why, God bless me ! " the old woman says, and she sticks 

Her glasses on nose, to behold us the better — 
" That won't do, you know ! — they will be all in a fix, 

If somebody don't cage 'em, or put 'em in fetter ! 
We couldn't do that; and as England's the first 

And the last of the nations, the top and the bottom — 
Who differ from us always come to the worst 

And find ruin as sure as if Satan has got 'em ! " 

Yes, I say it once more ; what for years upon years 

We have taken for England's peculiar ill-feeling. 
Has most of its spring in her ignorant fears 

Of that New that to us seems so loudly appealing. 
She can't understand tis — I say it again : 

She can't understand us, without older glasses ; 
And so, warped and crooked, to her muddled old brain 

Goes in every event that to history passes. 

She brought Slavery here : then one day through her thick 

And most foggy old skull came the saucy : " I'll stop it ! " 
She did ; then at once over us she fell sick, 

And she said : " Why the deuce, you know, don't they all drop it ? " 
Forgetting that hers was a West Indian toe. 

But that ours was in heart and in all the great members : 
That while she but an out-house in ruin laid low, 

We should risk laying all our fair mansian in embers ! 



1 6 Tammany Society. 

So came Exeter Hall, with its muddle and fuss, 

To stir up fanatics on both sides the ocean ; 
She had afted ; her a6l was the model for tis j 

We must do it, or suifer from endless commotion. 

Then one day we arranged for a snug little fight, 

A fight all at home, so our business, no others' ; 
Such a one, by the way, as had set her alight 

More than once, when o'er roses men butchered their brothers ! 
Then the old lady's speflacles went to her nose : 

" Why, God bless me ! those people are going to killing ! 
What do they know of science in coming to blows ? 

They've no talent for fighting, if ever so willing ! " 
(Forgetting — but that is so easy to do ! — 

Saratoga and Yorktown, the Lundy's Lane story ; 
And that Mexican march of the chieftain in blue 

Who at West Point, last month, changed the sphere of his 
glory ! ) 

" Why, they're nothing but shopkeepers ! " cried the old dame ; 

They know nothing on earth but the chink of the dollar ! 
Their fields will be waste, and their cities in flame ! 

Some one ought to step in and take each by the collar ! " 
But the conflift grew hotter, and soon it appeared 

To be dangerous work, getting 'tween the two hammers ; 
And she only tried crippling the brother worst feared, 
With Colonial laws and a few Alabamas. 

Then, the great struggle closed ; it had closed, not much more, 

When I stood on the soil of the good Queen's dominions. 
To see what the aspeft the White Island wore. 

And to read what of us were its thoughts and opinions. 
Do you know that the Englishmen couldn't believe 

It had ended at all ! waited some late arrival 
To hear the volcano again was in heave 

And the giant rebellion in course of revival ! 
" Why, you don't think it's over ! You don't mean to say 

They won't fight any more ! Why, that story won't do, you 
know ! 
Hold Hingland, 'erself, couldn't do things that way, 

Hand of course h'its impossible folly for you, you know ! " 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. j 7 

So the men with bobbed coats and tiglit trowsers would ask, 
With their clamshelly hats and their glasses on noses, 

And the setting them right was a bit of a task 
Much worse than a stay-at-home hearer supposes. 

All this, ninety days after Lee had " owned up," 

And the last rebel force melted out like a vision ; 
When the man who still held a Confederate hope. 

Over here, would have been quite too mad for derision. 
They believed, I am satisfied, we had been lured 

To security false— that some day, of a sudden, 
The mistake would be quickly and painfully cured 

By the ringing of swords on our occiputs wooden ! 
That we still were as helpless and weak as a child 

Asleep on the marge of an incoming wave is ; 
That Washington's streets would with ruin run wild, 

And the Wliite House still waited for Jefferson Davis ! 

I have not the least doubt that to-day, when one year 

And the half of another make croakers still muter, 
They are waiting the wonderful story to hear. 

Through the telegrams furnished by Mandeville Renter ; 
That they still look to see some new arrogant rao- 

Sailing into the Thames or the Mersey— the Master 
Of that thirteen-striped, numberless-starry old flao- 

That war, enmity, wrong, only fill up the faster ! 

What we want sent to England, is what has just gone — 

A Monitor, like tlie staunch Miantonomali ; 
And a dozen of guns, with their throats of black brawn, 

That would stun a whole land into headache and coma. 
Something like what, one day / construfted, to save 

The national honor, from ready materials. 
And sent Whitworths and Armstrongs, on land and on wave, 

All " up in balloons," just to quote the aerials. 

" Got any such cannon as that over there ? " 

Asked a juvenile Bull — " there's a gun wortli admiring ! 

There's thunder, I tell you, when that sweeps the air ! " 

And an Armstrong he touched, not yet bursted with firing. 



iS Tammany Society. 

It had ten inches bore, and would really have been 
Quite a gun, in the days of Napoleon and Nelson, 

And a shot from it, giving it chance to get in, 

Might have riddled a wooden ship, stern-post to keelson. 

*' No — we don't use such guns now-a-days, though we did f'' 

Was my very veracious, immaculate answer. 
(How could I help owning what modesty hid, 

And playing the natural role of romancer } ) 
" Those we use now-a-days — why, good heavens, my man ! 

You don't call ten inches of calibre 7nuch hole .'' 
One of ours — yes, I think — yes, I'm sure, that we can 

Slide this pop-gun of yours nicely into the touch-hole ! 
And for bore — when I tell you a man can walk in 

To one of Grant's siege-guns, and out, without trouble, 
And that balls are wheeled in, when our battles begin, 

On a cart, with a big pair of oxen, yoked double, 
Why, then you may judge what Americans see 

In the way of uptearing and ripping away things. 
And what very small use there could possibly be. 

Firing putty and spit-balls from one of these playthings ! " 

My John Bull was stunned — not much worse, I admit, 

Than I sometimes astounded the dunce at the wicket, 
When a train on some railway was ready to flit 

And I tried, in a hurry, to get me a ticket ; 
And when, after trying to beat through his skull 

Place and class, till I found myself left, " willy nilly," 
Through the hole his thin carcase I've threatened to pull 

And pound till I'd made him the best calves'-head jelly ! 

But my John Bull was stunned. " Why, good 'evings ! " he cried, 

" You alarm me, you know ! " I disclaimed the intention ; 
But he rallied dire6lly, and forcibly tried 

Th<; scope and the power of my new-born invention. 
'' Well you haven't no navy to speak of, you know ! 

See oiir Channel Fleet" — but I " put in," at this juncture, 
Unwilling his bladder much larger should blow 

Without the relief of a delicate punfture. 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 19 

" Stop there, my good friend, and don't name the Black Prince, 
The Warrior, Northumberland, big Agamemnon, 

Or one of your national prodigies, since 

We have things that could squeeze them as flat as a lemon ! 

" You have heard of the chains across rivers, in war ? " 

" Oh, yes ! " " Well, our chains, at each seaport, are founded 
Of Monitors stretching from bluft'over bar, 

Till the whole port with ships is completely surrounded ; 
The ships bow to stern, fast together ; and each 

With those guns, that would blow your Black Princes to 
shivers ; 
While our ten-thousand-pounders line every beach, 

And we freight on torpedo-boats, down all our rivers ! " 

That man, if no more, if he laid this to heart. 

Understood what America was, from that moment ; 
But 'tis painful to say that the far greater part 

Yet remain in the dark and require " note and comment." 
And for many a year yet, th' American man. 

Fast and homelike, will startle John Bull, and surprise him, 
Very much on the bull-in-a-china-shop plan. 

When the keeper, in fright, through the top-window eyes him. 
Only little by little will John find us out, 

And discover the ties and the fancies that bind us, 
The comet-like force that so whirls us about. 

And how much and how far he is living behind us ! 

" Don't wonder at all that you see, on our soil," 

One day said an Englishman, thoughtful and travelled ; 
" A few singular threads don't the whole fabric spoil, 

And their use will be shown when some day they're unravelled. 
You are race-horses ; we but plod on in a cart ; 

You are eagles ; we, barn-door fowls, useful, though grovel- 
ling ; 
You build and destroy things, with rash, sudden start ; 

We only do either with measure and shovelling. 
Which will longest endure, 'twere a problem to tell ; 

But one thing is most sure — 'twere a terrible pity 



-O Tammany Society. 

\i, the one language speaking, to fighting we fell 

" And left ruins where once stood each capital city." 
He was right ; and the words that he candidly used, 

If my poem should need one, supplies it a moral : 
Our ill-feelings most spring from a knowledge abused, 

And there's little to gain by blows, sulking and quarrel. 
We have enemies there, who know better ; but few ; 

Goldwin Smiths and John Brights understand us'and love us ; 
Coming years will out-winnow the false and the true, 

And stretch peace, with a full understanding, above us. 

Have I wearied you, magnates of Tammany— full 

Of a subjea that seemed to require ventilation, 
While \.oyou it may but have seemed stupid and dull, 

On a day set to foster the pride of the nation ? 
But I beg to remind you, 'twas England whose grasp 

We shook, ninety years since, from hand, pocket, and shoulder. 
And that wisdom may lie in the book we unclasp— 

Reading how we stand, each to each, ninety years older. 
England's red cross is waving yet, powerful still ; 

It will flap towards us in a pleasanter manner 
When its subjeds have learned the might, pleasure and will 

Of the great people shadowed by yon dear old banner ! 

The following poem was prepared for this occa- 
sion : 

A PLEA FOR THE UNION. 

A Poejii Dedicated to the Tammany Society, July \th, 1866. 
By CHARLES F. OLNEY. 
I. 
While the foes of Freedom tremble, 
From old Spain to classic Greece, 
And the hostile hosts assemble. 
Blood the only road to peace ; 
Brighter beams our Constellation 

In the upper sea of blue, 
Emblem of the reborn Nation, 
Guardian of the brave and true. 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 21 

II. 

One by one those Stars, so cherished, 

Took their place with sister gems ; 
Not a single light has perished. 

Matchless queen of diadems ! 
Thirty-six, in pristine beauty 

Beam upon us here to-day. 
Each a pledge for Union duty ; 
.Each from Freedom's Sun a ray ! 

III. 
Banner — Beacon of the Nations, 

Tyrants view thy Stripes, and fear ! 
Thou shalt light earth's generations 

Spreading gladness far and near. 
O'er our cities, towns, and mountains. 

Like the flowers 'neath tropic's sun, 
Thou dost blossom ! While the fountains, 

Dancing to the Union, run. 

IV. 
Yes, Columbia's mighty chorus 

Swells to-day from sea to sea ! 
Angel hosts are smiling o'er us. 

From the realms of liberty. 
Bells their joyous strains are pealing, 

Cannon thunder notes of cheer ; 
Peace the wounds of war is healing, 

Love and faith again appear. 

V. 
While the Nation's heart rejoices. 

Listen ! Borne on fragrant breeze 
Comes far-wafted Union voices, 

Pleading for their liberties. 
Low and sweet their hymn is stealing ! 

Fi'eedojii' s fire each bosom thrills ! 
Humbly at the Foutit they're kneeling, 

Heaven, the prayer of faith fulfils. 



22 



Tanuiiany Society, 

Vi. 
" From Thy throne, oh ! bounteous Giver, 
Hear us on our Natal Day ! 
Wilt Thou not our land deliver 

While Thy cliildren homage pay ? 
We unnumbered ills have tasted, 

And in grief now, vanquished, mourn, 
Sorrow for the dear lives wasted 
'Neath that Flagso proudly borne ! 

VII. 

" War, with pen of flame, has written 

On our cities his decree ! 
Shall we still by him be smitten ? 

Crushed to earth by tyi-anny / 
We are prostrate, helpless, weary ; 

Father, melt yon hearts of stone ! 
Turn not from our miserere ! 

Make us as a Nation one ! 

VIII. 
" Jesus : bade us ' Love thy Brother ! ' 
Bar they now Columbia's door ? 
Would they say : ' Your Union mother 

Spurns the child she fondly bore ? ' 
Long we loved the dear old Union, 

(True in ioWy far we strayed,) 
Seek we now for peace communion 
Where war's ills will ne'er invade ! 

IX. 

" Rights of Freemen, once so cherished, 

Pray, in mercy now restore ! 
Homes deserted, dear ones perished. 

Can the North still ask for more 1 
Bid them view the desolation 

Of our cities, valleys, plains ! 
Spurned unworthy of a Nation ? 

Why these cruel Northern chains ? 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 

X. 

" Would they smite us in our sadness ? 

Are they thirsting j/^/ for strife ? 
Would they torture us to madness ? 

Have they sworn to take e'en life ? 
Would they silence by proscription ? 

Blot from map each erring State ? 
O'er each grave write this inscription : 

' Vini)ns of ii)idyi)ig hate f ' 

XI. 
" Do the North claim sole possession 
Of those beauteous Union Stars, 
Snatched from Heaven, when foul oppression 

Was the proud ally of Mars ? 
Would they rob us of the story 

Of a common Union fight, 
When we, on the field of glory. 
In the cause of God and Right, 

XII. 

" Hushed with them the empty roaring 

Of the lion 'cross the main. 
While the eagle upward soaring. 

Bore to Heaven the names of slain ! 
Dear to us that bright creation, 

Born 'mid blood and battle flame, 
Flag of Freedom's dedication, 

Destined for immortal fame ! 

XIII. 
•' Shall Heaven's love, a golden river, 
Soon our native land restore .'' 
North and South from foes deliver ? 

Give us peace for evermore ? 
By the blood of Revolution, 

By the Emblem of the Free, 
By the glorious Constitution 
By the fires of Liberty — 



Tammany Society. 



XIV. 
" Pledge we, till the Nations perish, 
Till the ills of mortals cease, 
E'er the Union cause to cherish. 

E'er to hear the whisper ' Peace ! ' 
Then, as Jesus opes the portals 

Of those mansions in the skies, 
North and South as glad immortals, 
Saved by love of God shall rise." 

^ ^ 'ik % % 'if: ^ 

XV. 
Welco7ne I Welcome ! ! Southern brother ! 

Open wide we throw the door ! 
Will our Heaven-born Union mother 

E'er forsake the child she bore ? 
Let the sun refuse the morning ; 

Let the moon ne'er deck the night ; 
Let the seasons cease their warning ; 

Let the Nations spurn the right ; 

XVL 
But, though earth and Heaven were shaking 

With the strife of Freedom's foes. 
Though the million's hearts were quaking 

In the depths of battle woes, 
Brave Columbia, 'mid the thunder. 

Rescues every patriot son. 
Drives Disunion hosts asvmder 

Though iiitrencJied at JVashhigton. 

XVII. 
Fairest flower among the Nations ! 

Thou shalt rise in majesty, 
Bearing Freedom's declarations 

To the great futurity. 
Eiietnies may sound reveille ; 

Pulpits hurl 'gainst thee their hate, 
Doomed be they who e'er assail ye ! 

Nameless graves for such shall wait ! 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 25 

The Hon. Robert C. Hutchings, Assistant Dis- 
tri6l-Attorney, then read sele6lions from letters 
from the President of the United States, Members 
of the Cabinet, and other distinguished friends of 
Tammany. These letters, which were received 
with enthusiasm, will be found at the .close of the 
proceedings. 

The Hon. Richard O'Gorman, the orator of the 
day, was then introduced by Grand Sachem Hoff- 
man, amid a tempest of applause. 

MR. O'GORMAN'S ORATION. 

Grand Sachem, Sachems and Brethren of the Eagle Tribe : 
The season of fruits is come again. Winter and 
spring have passed, and the glorious summer sun pours 
its flood of light and heat again over all this bounteous 
land. In the North and the South, in the East and 
the West, over mountain and plain and city, over poor 
and rich, over all the tribes of this great family, this life- 
giving blessing is showered with kindly hand. Compas- 
sionate of the evils we inflift on one another, the Great 
Spirit sheds with equal tenderness His mercies on us all. 
Long years have rolled by since the great Sachem whose 
name you bear walked this earth. " Tammenund of 
many days " was then, as the legends tell us, a chief 
brave in battle, in the council wise and merciful. 



2 6 Tammany Society. 

Jealous of his power and goodness, the Evil Spirit arrayed 
against him the malignant forces of nature. The poi- 
sonous malaria and the poisonous reptile of the swamp 
assailed him. The mammoth monsters of the elder 
world flung their huge bulk against him. Torrents 
foamed across his path. Great inundations encompassed 
him around — yet he lived ! 

At last came the hardest ordeal of all. The hearts of 
the tribes were turned against him, and brethren slew 
brethren in civil war. 

Tammenund was victorious, and his vanquished ene- 
mies lay bound and helpless at his feet. 

Then, while silent and despairing, they awaited their 
doom, he turned on them a face of pity, and loosed 
their bonds, and in a gentle and tearful voice, as of 
a father, more in- sorrow than anger, reproving a way- 
ward child, he said to them : " Arise, and go your ways ; 
you have erred ; you have suffered ; we are children of 
the same great Father ; we are brethren once more. Go 
to your desolate wigwams and wasted fields ; go, repent 
and amend. Remember that while the arm of Tamme- 
nund is strong, his heart is merciful ; he has conquered, 
he conquers but to save." Thus having vanquished his 
enemies, he lived many days, a benefactor to his race and 
kind ; and when he died, the "tears of good men dropped 
like the gentle rain from heaven upon his grave." So 
runs the Indian legend. It may be true. The race of 
Tammenund has passed away ; where clustered their 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 27 

wigwams great cities now stand, and among all the 
millions that eat the fruits of the broad continent which 
was once the red man's hunting-ground, one society 
alone in its name and ceremonies does honor to the for- 
gotten warrior and sage of the Thirteen Tribes. 

The legend is not without its moral. The red man 
has been supplanted by the white man ; and against the 
white man, too, the malignant forces of nature have 
warred. By him, too, the pestilent swamp, the wilder- 
ness, the forest, the torrent have been subdued. He has 
ransacked the secrets of the earth and sea, and by the 
potent magic of science, skill, and labor, compelled the 
very forces that combined against him to do his bidding ; 
till in a space of time that in the book of history is scarce 
a page, this continent, so lately rude and desert, blos- 
somed like the rose ; till in all the earth there was no land 
so free, so prosperous so happy, so hopeful as ours. All 
this it was, till the Evil Spirit sowed among us, too, the 
seeds of discord, ht the fatal fires of fa6lion, let loose the 
demon of civil war to work havoc and desolation where 
peace and prosperity had made almost an Eden on earth. 
And now the war is oven The vidtory is won. The van- 
quished, disarmed and helpless, stand before us. Never 
was vi6lory more unquestionable, unquestioned, and com- 
plete. Is there no lesson for us in the Indian legend I 
have told you .^ Shall we white men be less merciful than 
the Indian whose home we inherit .'' Shall we. Christian 
men, be more revengeful towards our brothers in sin than 



28 Tammany Society. 

was the Pagan savage ? Shall we, who boast of civiliza- 
tion, and progress, and knowledge, fail to reach that 
noble sagacity of statesmanship which deems war fruit- 
less and vi6tory incomplete, until the enemy, conquered 
as well by clemency and magnanimity as by arms, is 
converted into a friend ? 

This day, citizens, you set apart as the political festival 
of all the year. You do well. It should be a holy and 
happy day. Never, while this Republic lives, should its 
citizens fail, when this anniversary comes round, to 
celebrate it with pomp and rejoicing ; to awaken the 
memories of its early perils ; to ascend, as it were, the 
stream of its history back to its first source — to that dark 
and doubtful hour, ninety years ago, when the thirteen 
colonies, uniting in one solemn purpose, set before man- 
kind that calm statement of their grievances which you 
have read to-day, broke the tie which bound them to the 
Government which did them wrong, and, appealing to 
Heaven and the future, declared themselves to be thence- 
forth thirteen equal and independent States ; and in 
defence of their rights as such free and independent 
States, pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred 
honors. You know how well and bravely that pledge was 
kept. Thus was born the new confederacy of States, 
then and now called " the United States." 

Think, citizens, what it was then, and what it is now. 

This ancient society has honored me with its invitation 
to speak to you to-day. 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 29 

I scarce know in what tone it is fitting to address you. 
Fourth of July orations have a doubtful reputation. 

It seems to be the custom for orators on this day to 
utter only such words as shall be pleasant to hear — to 
congratulate, to flatter, to applaud — and Heaven knows 
there is for us ample subjeft of congratulation ; and he 
need never flatter, who desires to praise to its desert the 
brave, generous American people. We have much cause 
to be thankful ; the war-drum rolls no longer, the sword 
is sheathed, the battle-flags are furled. 

The corn is waving over the graves where sleeps in 
peace, side by side, the viftor and the vanquished in the 
terrible confli6l which has been and never again can 
be. 

That awful trial, in which armies were the advocates, and 
the argument shot and shell, the bayonet and the rifle, is 
over. Judgment, unappealable and irreversible, has been 
given. It is decreed that no State of the United States 
can secede, can leave the Union, can cease to be one of 
the United States without the consent of all. Judgment 
unappealable and irreversible has been given. It is 
decreed that the relation between capital and labor, 
which prevailed in certain of the States, called slavery, 
shall exist no more. These two questions that have 
disturbed society, need disturb it no longer ; they are of 
the past. There let them be buried. For all this, we 
owe our thanks to that Providence in whose hands are 
the destinies of nations ; and, under Providence, to the 



30 Tammany Society. 

gallant men who, on land or sea, with steadfast hearts 
fought the great quarrel out. 

Why should I waste words in telling you of this ? 
Your own hearts cannot fail to be sensible of it. And 
why should I keep back the graver and sadder thoughts 
that struggle for utterance ; or now, because it is the 
Fourth of July, break the resolution I formed long ago, 
to speak to the people whenever they cared to hear me, 
the thought that lay nearest to my heart — to be always 
candid, frank and open with them ; to speak the truth, 
or not to speak to them at all. 

Citizens, I warn you that the Republic is still in dan- 
ger. The worst of the storm has blown over. The ship 
still rides, a proud and gallant sight. She has escaped, 
more by God's providence than by good steering, the 
Scylla of secession ; she is drifting, drifting slowly but 
surely, into the Charybdis of centralization. Can her 
course be changed } Is there time still to put her head 
about, and escape the danger .'' God knows ; it depends 
on Him and the people. 

Have you even thought what centralization really 
means, and what are its inevitable tendencies .-' Cast 
your memory back to the state of political affairs ten or 
twelve years ago. Then, we in New York scarcely felt 
the finger of the Federal Government. It carried our 
letters, and colle6fed certain import duties to an amount 
necessary to meet the current expenses of that Govern- 
ment, and they were trifling. But for all other purposes 



Seventy-EigJdh Celebratio7i. 31 

of government, the law of the State of New York was 
sufficient, paramount, and supreme. Now all this is 
changed. The finger of the Federal Government now is 
stronger than the arm of the State. We are getting 
what is called a strong Government. We have now let 
loose on us a cloud of assessors, colle6lors of taxes, 
Federal officials of all sorts, prying into every man's 
transa6tions, questioning, spying, informing, gathering up 
a large proportion of the fruit of our labors, and pouring 
it into the central reservoir at Washington, from which it 
flows and percolates in corrupting streams from end to 
end of the land ; and countless officials, great and small, 
with faces ever reverently turned towards Washington, as 
the Moslems turn towards Mecca, lap up the intoxicating 
tide and cry for more. 

Our artisans work hard and earn good wages, but 
somehow they can't live as well as of old. Wages are 
high, but necessaries of life are higher. What's the cause 
of this .'' It is because in order to satisfy a few worthy 
millionaires in Massachusetts or Pennsylvania, to prote6l 
them, to increase their profits, the cheap supply of all 
sorts of commodities which foreign nations are eager to 
sell us, is, as far as possible, shut out by excessive import 
duties. Thus the manufa6lurer is prote6led ; the manu- 
fadturer becomes rich, the consumer becomes poor. Thus 
labor is sacrificed to wealth ; the many are sacrificed to 
the few ; the people that pay taxes are sacrificed to those 
who receive taxes. This is bad ; but bad as it is, worse 



32 Tammany Society. 

remains behind ; for this very money, wrung from the 
sweat of labor, is used to fortify and perpetuate the very 
system which oppresses labor ; this money, when paid, 
flows also to Washington, to be wasted or turned to mis- 
chief and corruption as before. Federal patronage over- 
flows the land. Who can wonder now that at every 
political assembly, some one, somehow fattened on Fede- 
ral diet, with that sublime loyalty which men commonly 
exhibit towards the party whose pay they receive, in that 
vivid style of oratory which, all over the world, the pen- 
sioned patriot most aftedls, denounces all dissent, all 
remonstrance, all opposition to the powers that be, as 
treasonable, seditious, and disloyal. With such command 
of money, with such a hungry horde of loyal adherents to 
receive it and fight on their side, can you wonder that 
the five or six unscrupulous men who rule the Committees 
at Washington which now caricatures the Congress of the 
United States, grow more daring and more reckless, more 
secret and sudden in their action, more secure in the con- 
tinuance of their power .'' 

See how gradually, silently, surely, the influence of 
this political aristocracy, like the serpent gathering fold 
upon fold, encompasses the Republic about, and chokes 
it in its tightening embrace. 

To think, speak, a6l as this oligarchy ordain, is to be 
loyal. To be loyal is to share in the patronage they can 
bestow. Who would not be loyal, when to be loyal is to 
be rich .'' Thus you see how power — the power of the 



Scventy-EigJitk Celebration. 33 

purse as well as of the sword — a power that appeals to 
all men's hopes, and all men's fears — concentrates in 
Washington, and gathers to a head. Thus, the fatal con- 
spiracy of the few against the many grows and strength- 
ens apace — corrupting, debauching the minds of our 
people. Under its baleful influence, the rich grow richer, 
and the poor grow poorer, and the fatal quarrel between 
capital and labor, which in older countries from time to 
time shakes all society, here begins to mutter and to 
threaten. Why should the peasant of Ohio, or the arti- 
san of New York grow poor, that the maufa6lurers and 
si^eculators of New England and Pennsylvania should 
grow rich } Is this your idea of a republic } It is not mine. 

I have spoken of the mischievous change in the theory 
aiid pra6lice of our Government here in the States which 
have been vi6lorious in the late civil war. See how it 
works among that portion of the people on whom fell the 
weight of defeat. 

It is more than a year since the war ended — more than 
a year since all resistance to the Federal arms ceased — 
more than a year since the defeated people recognised 
and accepted the conclusions to which they had been 
forced — that no State could of right, or did in faft, cease 
to be in the Union ; that the Southern States were 
always in the Union, could not take themselves out of 
the Union, and yet these States have been for more 
than twelve months denied by this oligarchy all the con- 
stitutional rights of States to be heard by their Represen- 



34 Tammany Society. 

tatives in the great council of the RepubHc. All obliga- 
tions to the Union they are held liable to perform. 

They must obey the Federal Constitution and laws, 
and pay the Federal taxes, yet the rights of representa- 
tion in the Federal Council, which the Constitution 
secures to all, are denied to them. They are treated, not 
as States of the Union, but as a foreign conquered people, 
whose lives, liberties, laws and property are held at the 
will of the conqueror. Is this constitutional .-' Is it law- 
ful } Is it just .-* Is it expedient .■' Is it in accordance 
with the will of the American people .'' 

Remember the grievances against which the old colo- 
nists protested as sufficient ground for their revolt — 
taxation zvit/iout representation ! This was the chief 
ground — the most flagrant violation of the principles of 
British law and eternal justice. 

They laid it down that a tax is, in its nature, a volun- 
tary aid from the people to the Government, and could 
not be imposed without the consent of the people 
through their representatives, legally chosen. 

The violation of this principle they considered an 
outrage worth fighting against. And yet we, the inheri- 
tors of their quarrel, of their principles and their 
triumph — we who read their Declaration of Independ- 
ence and applaud it — we Americans inflift on Americans 
the self-same wrong. 

I say " we ; " for is not this still a Government of the 
people } Are not these half-dozen potentates at Wash- 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 35 

ington, by whose decrees these outrages are infli6led, 
the creatures of the people, and bound to do their will ? 

Citizens, the people's liberties can never sufier. 
Their rights can never be betrayed but by the default 
of the people themselves. It is by their want of vigi- 
lance, by their misplaced confidence in parties and 
men, by their apathy and torpor, that their ruin is 
wrought. 

Oh, for some master voice to rouse society from its 
stupor — to stir it into thought — as did the angel of old 
stir the stagnant pool that the blind and paralyzed might 
be cured and invigorated ! 

Let but the people speak ; their voice will roll like 
thunder over all the land. Who shall say them nay .-' 

Let but the people wake, and these enemies of the 
Republic will be scattered as the dew-drops of the night 
the lion shakes from his mane. 

I hear it said that the Southern people are not loyal, 
and guarantees are needed from them. 

Loyal to what ? To the Constitution .? It is for the 
Constitution they ask. 

Where else but in the Constitution can they find any 
hope .'' They ask for its protedlion as well as its obliga- 
tions. That it shall not be only a sword to smite them, 
but a shield by which they may be defended. 

Their condu6l for the last twelve months proves that 
they have abandoned, in good faith abandoned, the 
theory of secession. 



36 Tajnmany Society. 

They pray for " Union," and Union is denied them. 

How long is this to last ? 

What was this civil war for ? Listen. 

On July 26, 1 86 1, a resolution was offered in Congress 
in which I find this declaration : 

" Congress, banishing all feeling of mere passion and 
resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole 
country ; this war is not prosecuted on our part in 
any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest 
or subjugation, nor for the purpose of overthrowing or 
interfering with the rights or established institutions of 
those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy 
of the Constitution and all laws made in pursuance 
thereof, and to preserve the Union with all its dignity, 
entirety, and rights of the several States unimpaired. 

" That as soon as this is accomplished, this war ought 
to cease." 

Passed, 30 to 5. 

This resolution was proposed by Andrew Johnson of 
Tennessee, and adopted. 

That was the deliberate, solemn declaration of the 
North. 

It was for that, to save, restore, preserve the Union, 
it fought. For this purpose and no other, its young 
men left the plough and the bench, and took up arms. 
For this they suffered and died. 

Through all their long days of toil and danger this 
was the prize they sought to win. They gained it. 



Seventy-EightJi Celebi-ation, 2>7 

They conquered it. They returned to their homes, 
rejoicing that tlie Union their fathers bequeathed to 
them had been by their strong arms preserved. 

And now they find they but grasped a shadow. The 
reaUty is snatched from them. The Union is not saved. 
The Union is not preserved. The Union is prevented 
and delayed lest its restoration may thwart the plans, or 
cross the speculations of the honorable gentlemen in 
Congress, to whom civil war and disunioH have been the 
source of profit and power they could not otherwise 
attain to. 

They need guarantees. Guarantees for what .'' That 
the South will henceforth be loyal and obedient to the 
Constitution, and the laws that accord therewith. 

What better guarantees can you have than they have 
given you, and still give .-* 

Is not their defeat complete and admitted, crushing as 
it is — is not this a guarantee that they will never again 
take arms against the omnipotent will which has 
ordained that secession is imiDossible, and the Union 
shall never be dissolved .-' 

Are not their ruined cities, their wasted fields, their 
desolate hearths, the graves of their dead — father, son, 
brother, husband — the graves of their loved ones, on 
which Nature, higher, mightier, kindlier than man's laws, 
will shed the silent tear ? Have we no guarantee in 
this, that these men are Americans, our own brothers — 
defeated, but not yet humiliated, too proud to be false .'' 



o 



8 Tammany Society. 



Ask our soldiers — the men who stood face to face with 
them in many a hot and bloody fight- -who met them 
under flag of truce, who met them on the lonely picket, 
where kindred, ignoring the articles of war, made them 
for a while companions and friends. Ask the Generals 
who commanded our vi61;orious hosts — ask them if they 
would not trust the word of those whom they had seen 
so gallantly defending a theory with their lives. 

Ask Grant if he does not trust Lee. 

Take the vote of the whole Army and Navy — the 
men who fought, not the men who talked ; ask them if 
they trust the loyalty of the men they fought, van- 
quished, and forgave ; and, my life for it, from end to end 
of that glorious column of heroes will ring out the 
answer, " Aye, aye." 

Would to God it had been left to them — to the men 
who fought the cjuarrel out — to settle it, and I believe 
the " Union " would be whole to-day. 

But the Union must be saved. 

It cannot be prevented. 

It cannot be retarded. 

There is Union in the hearts of the people — North, 
South, East, and West. 

They long for reconciliation. They desire the society 
of one another — trade and commerce with one another. 

It cannot be that they will much longer submit to the 
tricks, stratagems, and manoeuvres of fa61ion, that to 
enrich itself and retain power, would open, irritate, and 



Seventy-Eighth Cetebration. 39 

inflame the wounds of civil war, that only need time and 
peace to heal and be forgotten. For remember, time is 
running by — opportunities unused never return. 

Still the people of the South trust the people of the 
North and West. 

They still hope in their generosity, still hope in their 
just second thought — their calm common sense. 

Let not reconciliation — true, real reconciliation — be 
delayed until that confidence is gone and replaced by 
the sullen submission of disappointment and despair. 

I, too, trust in the people. They are often abused and 
misled ; lied to by fa6lious men and for fa6lious ends. 
But it is by playing on their noble instinds and generous 
impulses they are betrayed. 

Misled by Fancy's meteor ray 

By passion driven, 
But still the light that led astray 

Was light from Heaven. 

Tell them but the truth, lay bare the deceit, show 
them that they are made the unconscious instruments of 
wrong, and they will be as quick to resent the treachery 
as to undo the mischief it has caused. 

Citizens of New York, I don't speak now to Demo- 
crats alone, or to Republicans. 

Many of the issues which divided us are settled and 
need not divide us more. 

I speak to you now on a subje6l whereon we all must 
agree. 



40 Tammany Society. 

Citizens of New York, you are generous and charita- 
ble. 

Never men had more than you " a tear for pity and a 
hand open as day to melting charity." 

You are eager to relieve want and alleviate human 
misery all over the earth. 

Do you know, do you realize the fa6l that men and 
women, Americans, of the same language, faith, color, as 
yourselves, your fellow-citizens in South Carolina, one 
of your sister States, are starving, dying for want of 
food .? 

Will you not help them, too .'' 

You can help them. They don't ask money. 

All they ask for is justice — ^justice tempered with 
mercy. 

Give them that ; they need no more help. 

Confidence will be restored. Capital will flow thither. 
The reck and ruin of war will be repaired, and they will 
soon add to the wealth of the Republic, instead of sham- 
ing it with their misery. 

It can never be well with New York while it is ill with 
South Carolina or Tennessee. 

This alone is Union ; Union not in form and name 
alone, but in substance and reality, that no wrong can be 
infli6led on any State, or any city, or any man, from 
Maine to Florida, without all the States, all cities, all 
men feeling the hurt and desiring to apply a remedy. 

This is real Union ; all for each, and each for all. 



Seve7ity-Eightli Celebration. 41 

Citizens, don't look at this from the low level of 
fa6tion. 

" Sursum corda." Ascend the higher eminence from 
which the wider and grander prospe<5t may be obtained. 

There is danger for New York when the rights of 
Tennessee are invaded. 

For by the' same wrong by which Tennessee is excluded 
from representation, your own State may suffer if the exi- 
gencies of fa6lion require that crime. 

During the civil war that is past, many things were 
submitted to for which the alleged necessities of war 
were the only excuse. 

We saw the Constitution violated and the civil law set 
aside. 

We bore it for the sake of the Union, which we 
thought by such a sacrifice could be preserved. 

But now the war is over. The violations of the Con- 
stitution and the law continue, and the Union is not 
restored. 

Citizens, beware ! 

The Republic is in danger ! The historic danger of 
Republics ! 

The Government has fallen from the hands of the 
many into the hands of the few. 

From the many who are apathetic, to the few who are 
energetic and bold. 

The respe6t for the Constitution is fading out of men's 
hearts, and when that dies the Republic is lost indeed. 



42 Tammany Society. 

For paper Constitutions, Declarations of Independence, 
laws, are but paper — worthless, lifeless ; mere delusions, 
mockeries and snares when they cease to express the 
instin61s and longings of a free people. 

The concentration of power will go on, till men, weary 
and sick of the worst of all bad governments, an irre- 
sponsible oligarchy, will go one step further ancl " fly 
from petty tyrants to the throne." 

Do you ever think, citizens, wherein the greatness of 
your Republic — this great Republic of Republics — really 
resides .'' 

In its wealth, trade, manufa6lures .-* 

Not so. There are nations in the Old World richer, 
with larger commerce than ours. 

In its broad lands, its almost illimitable domain .? 

No ; Russia has millions of fertile acres to which no 
emigrant turns his steps — thousands day after day. arrive 
on our shores. 

Is it in our schools, churches, palaces .-• 

In all these things, there are other countries by which 
we are equalled or excelled. 

I'll tell you where, and where alone, its greatness 
lies — the secret of its vitality, strength, hope, and endu- 
rance. 

It is in its freedom. 

In this, that it has been and will be, if it so please 
God and the people, a free Democratic Republic. 

Better be shorn of its wealth ; better it had never 



Seventy-Eighth Celebi^ation. 43 

gained one rood of ground more than the thirteen origi- 
nal. States ; better it never manufa6lured a pound of cot- 
ton or a bar of iron ; better we had no millionaires, no 
banks, no parks, no palaces ; better now lose them all 
than lose that without which these things never could 
have been our heritage of freedom — our Constitution, 
our Demo(!ratic Republic. 

With this, all things are possible. Without this, pro- 
gress is progress toward ruin ; and even the highest deve- 
lopments of wealth and civilization are but the unhealthy- 
flush of premature decay. 

How can we stop .'' How halt on the road to ruin } 

Where can we find a guide .'' 

Retrace your steps. Take the Constitution and the 
Declaration of Independence for your guides, and you will 
still be safe. 

These are your guides ; follow them. 

To us Democrats the path is easy and the guide fami- 
liar, for the Constitution and the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence have always been the principles of the Democratic 
party. 

To these principles the Democracy, if it be true to 
itself, must always be true. 

In this the Democratic party differs from other parties. 

It always goes wrong when it swerves from its princi- 
ples. 

Other parties never go right unless when they aban- 
don theirs. 



44 Tammany Society. 

What are these principles ? 

That that government is the best that governs the 
least. 

The States and men thrive best, develop best what 
force is in them when least checked, cramped, confined 
by legislation. 

That the States are equal, sovereign, and as such, each 
of them has rights as inalienable as those of the Union, 
which was founded by their consent ; rights which can- 
not be forfeited, and which it is revolution to deny or 
assail. 

The Constitution is a delicate machine. 

In the hands of those who understand its secret, and 
were educated to respecl it, it works kindly and well. 

Played upon by other and ruder hands, turned to pur- 
poses foreign from the principles of its existence, prosti- 
tuted to base ends, the subtle mechanism breaks ; for it 
is a thing too noble to be made the instrument of wrong. 

I am not speaking now in the interest of any party. 
It is an hour when even the highest level of party is too 
low for the crisis. 

True, I am a Democrat. But it is because I see in 
the principles of that party the true creed of the 
Republic. 

These principles never die. 

They will live, and will still save the Union ; and to all 
men who are true and loyal to these principles we hold 
out a friendly hand. 



Seventy- Eighth Celebration. 45 

Let bygones be bygones. 

We are content to forgive much, to forget much ; if by 
forgetting and forgiving the Union can be saved. 

It shall be saved. It is the will of the people ; and 
woe to them that dare gainsay it. 

To create the Union was a great achievement, and 
honor and gratitude will forever crown the names of 
the good and great men by whom it was accomplished. 
But more honor, more gratitude, more enduring love will 
bless the man or the men in our day by whom the 
Union shall be saved. 

God save the Union — save it from the errors of those 
who are dishonest, and the machinations of those that are 
not so ; and help us as He helped the true men of old, to 
save what they created — the United States — the great 
Republic of Republics, in whose cause we too " pledge 
our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." 

Loud and continued applause followed the 
address of Mr. O'Gorman, who, having retired, was 
followed by the Hon. S. S. Cox of Ohio. Having 
been introduced by Mayor Hoffman, Mr. Cox came 
forward and spoke substantially as follows : 

ADDRESS OF THE HON. S. S. COX. 

There are two reasons why I will not detain you long. 
First, the day is oppressively hot ; and secondly, I did 



46 Tmntnany Society. 

not know till I came to your hall that my name was on 
your programme. I came to listen to the utterances 
of the golden-lipped orator who has just spoken. One 
idea which he hinted, I will take the liberty of expanding. 
It was suggested, rather by what he suppressed than by 
what he expressed. The Declaration of Independence is a 
revolutionary document. It sounded the tocsin of revolt. 
It was the trumpet of sedition. It is an anachronism 
to date American liberties from the Fourth of July, 1776. 
Our liberties have no date. They are from God. We 
never lost our liberties. They have no beginning in this 
country. When our ancestors signed and proclaimed the 
Declaration of Independence, they associated with their 
English privileges and liberties the rights of human 
nature. When England strove by force and parliamen- 
tary chicanery to rob us of our liberties, we struck for 
— independence ! We never lost our liberties. Far back 
beyond the era of Bills of Right, Apologies and Petitions 
of the Commons of England — far back of the Magna 
Charta of English freedom — reposed in eternal might, the 
rights and privileges of human nature, which our ances- 
tors vindicated. In the Roman civil law, and even ante- 
rior to that, the civil rights of man were guarded by civil 
authority, in written and unwritten constitutions. These 
rights were brought to this land with our charters, and 
when England strove to despoil them, we struck back for 
independence, and by the aid of Heaven we won our 
independence and saved our liberties. [Cheers.] These 



Sevenly-Eighlh Cclebi'aiion. 47 

liberties were enshrined in the Constitution. I love it 
more than the Declaration; as I love repose and order 
more than passion and revolt. To me, especially since 
our civil war, the 17th of September is a day marked 
with a whiter stone in the Calendar than the 4th of 
July. It is the day of all our years the best. In the 
Constitution we find the consummate flower of our 
freedom. In saying this, I do not disparage the Decla- 
ration of Independence. It recites, in immortal phrase, 
the grievances of the American colonies. Among them 
was the wrong of trying men for crimes unknown to the 
law, and by juries and tribunals distant from the vicinage 
of the accused ; the abolition of habeas corpus and the 
destru6lion of the muniments of personal freedom ; the 
destru6lion of trade by illegal and extraordinary exa6lions, 
hardly equalled by the infamous tariffs and taxes of to-day ; 
and as a climax of injury and iniquity, these exadions 
were levied without the consent of the people taxed, and 
without representation of the taxed people in the taxing 
Parliament. These wrongs have in part been suffered by 
this people during our civil war, and in fa6l are being 
endured now. But during the four years of our civil war 
there was ever found a body of men in the Democratic 
party, in and out of Congress, who never failed to protest 
with vehemence and amidst obloquy — against this obscu- 
ration of liberty by irresponsible power ! [Cheers.] 
That these rights — demanded by the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence and embodied in the Constitution — have 



48 Tammany Society. 

been restored since the war, we owe to the courage,' 
justice and patriotism of Andrew Johnson. [Cheers.] 
The attempt of those who gave too fatal a direftion 
to our civil war, who strove to enthral the people, 
has been foiled, thanks to Divine Providence and our 
Chief Executive. [Cheers.] So significant has been .the 
adlion of the Democratic party — as illustrated by the men 
of Tammany — that to-day we have read here an epistle 
from the Premier of the last Administration, laying at 
your feet his chaplet of honor ! [Laughter and cheers.] 
Mr. Seward cannot refrain from recognising the sterling 
patriotism of Tammany Hall, which is the patriotism of 
the Northern Democracy, and which, while protesting 
against the abuses of power, never wavered in its 
defence, by the blood of her sons, of the Constitutional 
Union which our fathers made. [Cheers.] But I meant 
only to speak to you to one praftical point. My eloquent 
friend, Mr. O' Gorman, has said that the Republic is not 
yet saved. The fearful war-cloud has passed away ; but 
he has truly said there is danger still. That danger 
comes the same quarter whence our civil war came. 
This danger comes from the blotting out of eleven 
stars on our banner — the obliteration of eleven States 
from the Federal Union. Let me illustrate the immi- 
nency of this danger. Suppose that in 1868, these States 
— living, breathing entities — vote for President and Vice- 
President. Their eleftors meet ; their votes are cast in 
the college, in unison with a sufficient number of North- 
ern States to ele6l a Democratic President. Suppose 



Scveiity-Eighih Celcbrafion. 49 

that eledlion reinstates the policy, the honor, the un sec- 
tional patriotism of the Democracy in the National 
Government, and that vote is borne to Washington during 
the winter of 1868-9. The joint session of Senate and 
House meets to count the votes. Tennessee, Arkansas, 
Louisiana and the other eight States, representing ten 
millions of people and 725,955 square miles, — held by the 
Radicals to be dead by suicide and secession, are called. 
They are called to be counted. Their voice ele6ls the 
President. Their vote is obje6led to because they are 
not suffragans in the Ele6loral College ! It is then con- 
tended that they are not merely sleeping — not in abey- 
ance, but absolutely out of the Union, and their voice 
only the whine of an abje6l conquered people — not the 
voice of equal States with all their dignity and indepen- 
dence unimpaired. What then } Is there any tribunal 
to decide this momentous question .'' I say : Akvic ! none ! 
In 1856, when Wisconsin was called, and her vote for 
Mr. Buchanan was found to have been cast on a day not 
legally appointed — (in consequence of high waters) — the 
question was pretermitted. It was held that the joint 
convention had the power only of — arithmetic ; no judi- 
cial function, no authority to judge as to the validity of 
the vote. So it remains yet. When the eleven States 
now under radical ban shall be called — who will decide 
as to their right to vote .'' As surely as 1868 shall come, 
there will come dissension, embroiling and war. Unless 
this matter is averted by timely, moderate and judicious 

3 



50 Tammany Sociciy. 

statesmanship, there will come war — civil war ; not 
merely a war of sediions, an international war, but a war 
of communities, more terrible than the mind can con- 
ceive ; far more atrocious in its results than the war just 
ended. God help us then, if Andrew Johnson fail us ! 
But he will not fail in that confli6l ! [Cheers.] Let us 
avert these terrible calamities. How } I would strike 
hands with any man or set of men who will help give to 
the eleven disfranchised States, now under the bar-sinis- 
ter of the Radical fragment of a Congress, their proper 
constitutional jDosition and legislative representation. 
[Cheers.] To this end, let us aid the President. [Cheers.] 
Let us make the Philadelphia Convention a success. He 
is anxious for it. It will illustrate the possibility of men 
of patriotic sentiments meeting in one body and in har- 
mony — from every part of the country. It will brand to 
everlasting infamy the slander that peace and good-will 
from every section cannot meet in council for the well- 
being of the whole land. [Cheers.] No one need appre- 
hend that this requires the disbanding of the Democratic 
party. As I told the Democratic caucus at Washington 
the other night — no one, no Committee is authorized 
to break up the Democratic party. It is immortal as 
the Constitution. [Cheers.] It only requires that we 
should choose delegates who believe in the Presidential 
and Democratic policy of Federal restoration and Con- 
gressional representation, and give them credentials to 
Philadelphia. Men of Tammany ! see to this ! It cannot 
al)s u-b the Democracy. It must help the country. It 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 5 1 

will avert civil confli6l. It will entomb Radicalism. You 
know how to make this idea pra61ical. When it is 
realized, then the invocation of my eloquent friend (Mr. 
O'Gorman), that the people will save themselves, will begin 
to find realization. Then will come in peace and repose 
the good time when the question will be answered. 

" When wilt Thou save the people ? 

O God of Mercy ! When ? 
Not kings and despots — tyrants ! — 

But hearts and homes and men ! 
Shall crime breed crime forever ? 

Strength aiding still the strong ? 
No ! say the mountains ; No ! the skies, 
Our clouded sun shall proudly rise, 
And songs ascend, instead of sighs. 

God save the people ! (Cheers.) 

After Mr. Cox had finished his speech, and had 
retired amid the applause of the audience, His 
Honor Mayor Hoffman said: 

I now beg leave to introduce to the audience 
ex-Judge Pierrepont, who will deliver a short 
address. (Loud cheers.) 

ADDRESS OF EX-JUDGE PIERREPONT. 

Grand Sachem and Brethren of the Tammany 
Society: — The Grand Sachem has very properly an- 
nounced to you that my address will be short, and I have 



52 Tammany Society. 

the pleasure to announce to you that it will be short. 
As you know, my brethren, I never meet you except on 
some matter of business. I never come to Tammany 
Hall except for the purpose of accomplishing some end. 
Two years ago I met you here, and then we were at war. 
Last year I did not meet you, simply because I was in 
another part of the world. Now that war is over, in 
my humble judgment it becomes us, after the great 
smoke of that war has rolled away, to take a slight 
survey, and see the condition in which we are placed 
after this war. Do you think it is all entirely ended .-* 
[Cries of" No, no."] Have you the same peace, the same 
prosperity, and the same liberty that you had before this 
war began .'' [No, no.] Now, let us see. This is a very 
good day to commence a consideration of this subjeft. 
This is the natal day of freedom. Whatever you may be 
told upon this subje6t, there never was in the world such 
a thing as real liberty until it was born on this day in 
1776. [Applause.] There was a talk of liberty. It was 
a mere semblance of it — it was never real. Kings, lords 
and nobles always took the earnings of the people and 
always oppressed the people, and the people never had a 
real voice in any real government until 1776. Now, 
as true religion came into the world at the birth of 
Christ, so did true liberty come into the world at 
the Declaration of Independence. [Cheers.] When the 
one was born you will remember that a star stood over 
where the young child was, and our fathers took the 
star, and planted it in the azure of their flag, and one by one 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 53 

as they shone out in this western sky as the harbingers of 
liberty, we placed them one by one in the great constella- 
tion (applause). And yet, my brethren, you have seen all 
those stars obscured, yea, almost blotted out ; and to my 
vision, as I scan the horizon, there still is a thick fog left. 
Do you now see all those stars as bright as they once 
were .'' If you go to the Capitol at Washington, enter the 
Senate Chamber, and ask where are those Senators who 
represent the eleven Southern States, do you find any 
one of them } Are they all dead } Are the States dead } 
Are the people, your former brethren who lived in these 
States, all dead .-^ Are they slaves } Are they a con- 
quered people to whom no rights are left .-' If not, 
where are the indications of those rights .'* Go into the 
House of Representatives, where the people are direftly 
represented ; do you see a single man who has come 
up from that great country to represent the people t 
Not a man ! Are those people all dead } Are they 
all slaves t Are they a conquered people who have 
no rights left ? What does all this mean } Now you will 
remember when the European Governments, a few years 
ago, addressed us through Mr, Seward, our Secretary 
of State, proposing that we should have some convention 
to debate and consider the rights of these Southern States, 
Mr. Seward, in his famous letter, which was then pub- 
lished to the world, said to those European nations : " The 
Congress of the United States is open to them all ; there 
they can come and debate this question, and there at that 
bar they can present their rights. Let them simply throw 



54 Tainniany Society. 

clown their arms ; the Congress of the United States is 
open to them ; there they can come and have a fair hear- 
ing ; all their grievances shall be listened to ; and Enrope, 
with a silent voice, said : ' That is all right.' " Not long 
after this the army surrendered, and the South, to a man, 
laid down their arms. They fought like brave men 
long, and were beaten ; but when utterly exhausted, 
then they yielded, like brave men. [Applause.] And 
had they not the right to suppose that they would be 
permitted to come back to Congress and to the Senate, 
and that the rights which Mr. Seward had promised them, 
namely, the right to present their grievances, would be 
listened to } When they had done all that, and when our 
brave Generals had received the swords of their brave 
Generals, when they surrendered themselves as prisoners 
of war, then the Southern people had a right to suppose 
when they sent their Senators and Representatives to 
Congress, in the ordinary way, and under such forms as 
the Constitution prescribed, that then their rights would 
be inquired into, and if they were properly elecled and fit 
men, that they would be received back into Congress. 
(Cheers.) Was there any doubt about their having this 
right } Now, my fellow-citizens, let us look at this ques- 
tion like honest men. True, an effort has been made to 
completely befog this whole subje6t. There is no mys- 
tery about the subje6l of reconstru6lion at all. There is 
no reconstrudfion about it. The States were in rebellion. 
We did what we could to put that rebellion down, and we 
did put it down. When the rebellion was put down it 



Scventy-EigJdJi Celebration. 5 5 

was put down forever, perfect and complete. What more 
was to be done ? What was left to be done ? We told 
them in the early part of the war : " Lay down your 
arms, return to your allegiance, and you shall be restor- 
ed to this Union." They took us at our word ; they 
came back and asked to be admitted, that they might be 
listened to in presenting their rights and their wrongs. 
Then, all at once, started up a new doctrine : " Why, you 
are out of the Union ; you do not exist, and have no 
rights at all ; you are to be reconstru6led." And that 
was started up, and for what } Was it for the purpose 
of restoring those States .'' Was that do6i;rine got up for 
the purpose of restoring the Union .'' No. Every man 
of the slightest sense knows it was an excuse to prevent 
the restoration of the Union. Now, we all know that 
perfectly well. When we of the Democratic party 
joined in this war — when we put heart and soul, every- 
thing we had, reputation and all, into it, to put down the 
rebellion, we did it for the purpose of restoring and pre- 
serving the Union, and not for the purpose of keeping 
those States out of the Union. Do you suppose in this 
entire North that there exists any true Democrat who 
would have lifted his right arm, or raised his voice for the 
war, had he supposed when the rebellion was put down, 
when the South surrendered and laid down their arms, 
they were to be forever kept out of this Union. 
(Applause). Why, our obje6t was to keep them in the 
Union ; to restore them to the Union. Now, my friends, 
I am a practical man. If I possess any faculty, it is to 



56 Tamma^ty Society. 

accomplish results. I take no interest in politics what- 
ever as a mere game at play, in which the player is 
amused and careless as to what the result shall be. 
But I take, in this great contest that I see coming, a 
deep interest. I take an interest in it through the hope 
and belief that, by wise counsels and united adlion, we 
can accomplish results that will redound to the glory of 
our country, and to its salvation and liberty. (Cheers.) 
Now, what is to be done .-• It is easy to talk in generali- 
ties upon this subje6l. Let us come to something prac- 
tical, and, if you will pardon me a few minutes, I shall 
have done, and you will be wearied no longer. Now, 
what is to be done .-' Talk does not accomplish anything. 
Something else ought to be done. Counsel, wisdom, 
intercommunication, and some plan adopted which 
would tend to result in some great good, is what we 
want. Now, this fall we are to elect in this State a 
Governor, a very important step, as I shall presently 
show you. This great State of New York, whatever any 
one else may say of it elsewhere, does rule the Union. 
{Loud cheers.) The people outside of her imitate her 
laws ; they imitate her virtues, and, I am fearful, even 
her vices. But it is natural. It is in the order of things, 
and it cannot be resisted. Now, if you will look at the 
present constitution of the Legislature of this State, 
you will perceive that unless the Democratic party can 
eleft a Governor this fall, the vacancy for Senator 
will be filled by a Radical. So you will perceive how 
carefully this election for Governor should be con- 



Seveiity-EigJitJi Celebration. 57 

dudled. It should be condu6led in such a way that it 
will not be regarded as a game of politics, but should 
lead to a success. If you can ele6l a Governor you can 
force a Conservative man or a true Democrat into that 
place as Senator. Nothing can resist that. Now, what 
is the mode to accomplish that end .'* for as I said to you 
just now, I am simply a man of business. I take no 
interest in idle thought or vague speculation. What is 
the mode of doing it .'' You know well how we are situ- 
ated in this State. It is very clear, and need not be 
doubted by any man who looks at the matter, that 
Governor Fenton will be renominated for Governor, and, 
if he be successful, a Senator of his particular political 
stripe will be ele6led next winter. That is a fa6l demon- 
strated ; it needs no argument. Now, the moral efifeft 
of that thing upon the country will be bad. When the 
people see that this great State places itself in that posi- 
tion, it influences tens of thousands of other men. It 
influences timid minds. It influences selfish men — men 
who are not governed by principle, but by their own 
interests, and who will always go on the strongest side. 
It encourages all our foes, and paralyzes many of our 
friends. Now, I say that we can accomplish our object. 
In the party represented by the present Governor is a 
strong conservative element that would be glad to have 
him defeated, if any proper man whom it could support 
was nominated to take his place. (Loud cheers). 

A voice — I say John T. Hoffiiian is the proper man 

[Loud cheers], 

3* 



58 Tammany Society. 

Judge Pierrepont — Listen to me for a few moments, 
and I shall close all I have to say. Now, Mr. President 
Johnson has been alluded to here, and we all know what 
his sympathies are. But President Johnson alone can do 
but little, nothwithstanding his great partiality for the 
Democratic party. Why .'' President Johnson was 
elefted by the other party, and, therefore, he cannot 
desert completely the party who elefted him, and take 
sides against it. It is not to be expe6led of him ; and if 
anybody thinks so, he will be disappointed. His sym- 
pathies are with us, but you must consider the position 
in which he is, the condition in which he stands towards 
the country, and to the party who ele6led him, and not ask 
of him any more than it is right to ask of human nature. 
Now, fellow-citizens, how shall we settle this matter .'' 
First, we have to make up our minds who we want — not 
that we want to succeed — but to make up our minds who 
we want. We will take as an illustration the present 
Mayor of the city, for instance. Let us go back to his 
eledlion, and it will serve as a general illustration of what 
I want to call your attention to. You know that the pre- 
sent Mayor of this city having taken such a political course 
as gave the people of this city great confidence in him, the 
Democratic party nominated him, and his election was 
certain. Yet it was one of the most difficult eleftions since 
I have observed politics in this city. The other party ran 
against him Marshall O. Roberts, a genial, generous man, 
a popular man, and they had under their control uncount- 
ed millions of gold to spend, which they spent freely, and 



Seveniy-Eighth Cclebraiion. 59 

yet, the thing being adjusted as it was, the Democratic 
party showing its wisdom in nominating this man whom 
they did for Mayor, the result of it was, to bring over to 
his side much of the Conservative element, and all the 
Democratic party ; he was ele6led triumphantly, and all 
the people rejoiced. [Cheers.] There is a great deal, 
whatever may be said to the contrary, in the man. Now, 
if you undertake to ele6l any man Governor of this 
State who cannot bring some portion of the Conservative 
element upon the other side to your support, we shall 
fail ; and, if we fail in that, we shall fail in the Senator, 
and this great Government will tend to become an em- 
pire, with all the jDower and evils of imperialism. Now 
let the society to-day talk this matter over, and see if 
they can fix on any one man to lead them to success 
Will you pardon me when I say the man I think the 
right one. I am a lawyer, and look at the bearing of 
things to see how they will come out at the end. And, 
if you will permit me to name the man the most fitting 
for your nomination as Governor of this State, I would 
place my hand upon the head of him who sits behind me 
— the Mayor of the city of New York ! [Loud cheers.] 

Judge Pierrepont having concluded his address, 
retired amid loud applause, when the Hon. Sheriff, 
Kelly, who was now in the chair (Mayor Hoffman 
having been compelled to leave to fulfil another 
engagement), read the following sentiment, being 



6o Tam77tany Society. 

A RESPONSE OF RECORDER HACKETT 

to an invitation extended to him to be present, and 
with which he was not, in consequence of a pre- 
vious engagement, able to comply: 

" The Grand Sachem of the United States, Andrew 
Johnson — May he soon have at his belt all Radical scalps, 
leaving them their brains ; and before another Fourth of 
July, may he assemble the whole nation around the coun- 
cil fires of Old Tammany and smoke with them the pipe 
of peace." 

This sentiment was received with loud cheering, 
after which Sheriff Kelly announced that the Coun- 
cil of the Wigwam was closed for 1 866 ; and thank- 
ing the audience for their attendance, hoped to 
meet them a year hence around the Democratic 
council fires. The audience then retired. 

The sachems, chiefs and warriors, accompanied 
by the representatives of the press, then retired to 
partake of a sumptuous banquet, and to drink the 
healthful waters of the great spring. 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 6 1 



LETTERS. 



From the President of the United States. 

Executive Mansion, > 

Washington, D. C, July 2, 1866. ^ 

Sir— I thank you for the cordial invitation of the time-honored 
Society of Tammany, to participate with them in the celebration of 
the approaching anniversary of our National Independence. 

The national tone and patriotic spirit of the invitation meet my 
hearty approval. They are indications of a growing public sentiment, 
which, now that the bitter strife of civil war has ceased, requires a 
renewal of the pursuits of peace, a return to the Constitution of our 
fathers, rigid adherence to its principles, increased reverence for its 
sacred obligations ; a restored, invigorated, and permanent Union ; 
and a fraternity of feeling that shall make us, as a people, one and 
indissoluble. There can be for the patriot no higher duty, no nobler 
work, than the obliteration of the passions and prejudices which, 
resulting from our late sanguinary conflict, have retarded reconcilia- 
tion, and prevented that complete restoration of all the States to their 
constitutional relations with the Federal Government, which is essen- 
tial to the peace, unity, strength, and prosperity of the nation. 

Regretting that my public duties will not permit me to be present 

at your celebration, 

I am very respectfully yours, 

Andrew Johnson. 

To the Hon. John T. Hoffman, etc., etc.. City Hall, New York. 

From Secretary Seivard. 

Department of State, ") 
Washington, June 26, 1866. \ 
To the Hon. John T. Hoffman, City Hall, New York : 

Sir— I have had the honor to receive the invitation of the 
Tammany Society for the celebration of the approaching Fourth of 

I am highly pleased with the form of the invitation. I ^^^^ the 
motto which is placed at its head, "The Union must and s'. all be 



62 Tauiinany Society. 

preserved." I like the vignette which illustrates it. 1 like the asso- 
ciated hues with which it is colored, namely : the red, white, and blue. 
I like the temple of liberty based upon the rock of the Constitution, 
and protected by the eagle of the American continent. I like the 
ships and railroads, indicative of prosperity and progress. I like the 
signiiicant conjunction of dates, 1776 and 1866— a period of ninety 
years. Why, in looking at these figures we almost feel assured that 
our Republic has a life of at least one century. Alas ! how many 
republics have been shorter lived ! I would have had the flag of the 
Union, which is on the right, present in its azure field only the 
thirteen original States ; but I especially delight in the flag which is 
on the left hand, and in whose enlarged field twenty-three stars are 
blazing which have come out from the deep cerulean within the past 
ninety years, while the original thirteen stars yet remain in their 
ancient place, all their morning lustre undiminished. 

I have had some difterences in my time with the Tammany Society, 
but I long ago forgot them all, when I recalled the fact that the Society 
has never once failed to observe and honor the anniversary of National 
Independence ; and the further fact that during the recent civil war 
the Tammany Society sent its sons to fight for the Union, and, with 
unswerving fidelity, heartily supported the Federal Government in its 
struggles with sedition. In view of these facts, and of the noble 
principles now avowed, I hail the Tammany Society as a true Union 
League. 

I rejoice with the Society that the conflict of arms has ceased ; that 
the authority of the Government has been vindicated, and that the 
flag of the Union now floats triumphantly over every foot of national 
domain. On the other hand, I mourn with the Society that the per- 
fect Union given to us by our patriotic forefathers has not yet been 
entirely restored ; that eleven sovereign States are denied represen- 
tation in the Federal Congress, and are not recognised as coordinate 
parts in the National Legislature. How strange all this ! We have 
killed disunion outright, and have killed African slavery with it, and 
yet we are not completely reunited. 

If I did not feel assured that the American people cannot suffer so 
great and fatal a solecism to continue, I should say, as many others 
do, that we are at a crisis. But I have unbounded confidence in the 
wisdom and virtue of the American people. It is said in excuse of 
the denial of representation, that the States and their chosen Repre- 
sentatives still continue to be seditious and disloyal. I ask, is 
Tennessee disloyal ? Is Arkansas seditious ? Are the Senators 
and Representatives of those States disloyal ? I desire, in this 



Sevcnty-Eightk Celebration. 6 



o 



respect, that each of the two Houses of Congress will apply the con- 
stitutional test, with all the improvement of legislation upon it, and 
thus admit those States and Representatives who are loyal, and reject 
only those against whom the crime of disloyalty shall be established. 

I believe with the Tammany Society that the Union was created 
to be perpetual, that the States are equal under the Constitution, that 
the restoration of the Union by the recent war ought to be acknow- 
ledged and recognised by all the departments of the Federal Govern- 
ment ; that a spirit of magnanimity and fraternity should prevail in 
all our councils ; and that the South, having accepted the lessons of 
the war, and relinquished the heresies of secession, should, just so 
fast as she comes, in the attitude of loyalty, and in the persons of 
loyal and qualified Representatives, be admitted to her constitutional 
representation. 

I want, henceforth and forever, no North, no South, no East, no 
West; no divisions, and no sections and no classes, but one united 
and harmonious people. 

It will be impossible for me to attend the celebration personal!}-. 
What I have written I trust will satisfy the Society that, in spirit, I 
shall always be with them when they shall be engaged in renewing 
and fortifying the National Union. 
I have the honor to be, sir. 

Your very obedient servant, 

William H. Seward. 

From Secretary Welles. 

Gentlemen — I have received your invitation, and should be 
happy to participate with the Tammany Society, or Columbian Order, 
in celebrating the approaching anniversary of our National Indepen- 
dence, were I not prevented by public duties. 

To the honor of your Society, it has in all times and under all 
circumstances, in war and in peace, been faithful to the union of the 
States and the rights of the States. At no period since its organi- 
zation have its teachings and services been more requited than at the 
present, when, the victorious arms of the Republic having suppressed 
the false theory that the Union can be divided by secession, or the 
voluntary withdrawal of a State from the Federal relations and obli- 
gations, we are compelled to encounter the opposite extreme of 
compulsory exclusion, by which the centralists deny to eleven States 
the representation in Congress which is guaranteed to them by the 
Constitution. 



64 Tammany Society. 

This doctrine of compulsory exclusion is scarcely less offensive 
than that of voluntary secession. Each is fatal to the perpetuity of 
the Union. 

After a long and exhausting war, which has cost us so much blood 
and treasure, the country needs repose, that industry, commerce, and 
the arts of peace may revive, and friendly relations between the States 
and people may be reestablished. Friendly confidence among the 
peoiMe is to be encouraged, and must supersede hatred and revenge. 
No portion of the States or people can be deprived of their just rights 
without producing estrangement. 

I respond most sincerely to the correct and patriotic views expressed 
in your invitation ; and regretting my inability to be present with you, 
I respectfully submit the following sentiment : 

The Union of the States — only to be maintained by a faithful 
observance of the rights of the States. 

Very respectfully, 

Gideon Welles. 

John T. Hoffman, Esq., City Hall, N. Y. 

From Gen. Grant. 

Headquarters Armies of the United States, > 
Washington, D. C, June 28, 1866. | 

His Honor John T. Hoffman, Mayor of New York, Grana 
Sactiein Tainniany Society : 
Sir — Lieut-Gen. Grant directs me to acknowledge the receipt of 
an invitation from the Tammany Society to take part in the celebra- 
tion of the approaching Anniversary of American Independence, 
and his regret that a previous engagement will oblige him to decline 
the honor. 

I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, 
Adam Badeau, 
Brevet-Col. and Military Secretary. 

From Maj.-Gcn. IV. S. HancocJi. 

Baltimore, Md., July 2, 1866. 

Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sacticni of the Tammany Society, 

N^ew Yort: : 

My Dear Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 

your communication of June 23, requesting my attendance in New 

York on the Fourth of July next, for the purpose of taking part in 



Seventy-Eight Ji Cctcbration. 65 

the celebration by the Tammany Society of the Anniversary of our . 
National Independence. 

It would afford me much pleasure to accept your invitation, and I 
should not fail to do so, were I not bound by a previous engagement 
to be in Philadelphia on that day. 

I am, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

WiNF. S. Hancock, 
Major-General U. S. Vols. 



From Maj.-Gcn. D. E. Sickles. 

Charleston, S. C, Ji/ly 4, 1866. 
To Hon. John T. Hoffman, Mayo?', iV. V. : 

I had the honor to receive, this morning, the invitation of Tam- 
many Society to attend their celebration to-day, and can only express 
my grateful appreciation of their courtesy. The loyal populations in 
principal towns of North and South Carolina are commemorating 
the National Anniversary by processions, patriotic addresses, etc., 
with much enthusiasm, and without disorder. 
D. E. Sickles, 

Major-General Commanding. 



Fro7U Maj.-Gen. W. B. Franklin. 

Hartford, Conn., July 3, 1866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, City Hall, Ne%u York : 

Dear Sir — I have received the invitation of the Tammany 
Society to attend its celebration of the Fourth of July. I regret 
that other arrangements, made before I received the invitation, will 
prevent me from being present at the celebration. 

The last clause of the letter of invitation, containing what ought 
to be the political creed of all those whom the Tammany Society 
asks to join her in perpetuating the principles of our Government, 
is heartily endorsed by me. I hope and believe that a very few 
months will show that this is the creed of an immense majority of 
the American people. 

With many thanks for the invitation, 

I am very respectfully yours, 

W. B. Franklin. 



66 Tammany Society. 

From Maj.-Gcn. D. N. CoucJi. 

Tauntox, Mass, July i, 1866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sachem : 

Dear Sir — It is with great jileasure that I acknowledge the 
receipt of an invitation to join the Tammany Society in its proposed 
celebration of the Fourth of July. 

I have delayed writing, hoping that circumstances would allow 
me to be present, but at this late hour am obliged to decline. 

I would like to become acquainted with the members of a body 
of gentlemen who keep alive the true donocratic fire. 
I am, sir, 

Very respectfully and truly, 

D. N. Couch. 

From Maj.-Gcn. H. E. Davics, Jr. 

Office of the Public Administrator,') 
115 and 117 Nassau Street. >- 

New York, July 2, 1866. ) 
Hon. John T. Hoffman : 

Dear Sir — I have great pleasure in acknowledging the receipt 
of an invitation to take part in the ceremonies of the Tammany 
Society, for the celebration of the Fourth day of July inst. 

I regret exceedingly that an engagement of long standing will, by 
caUing me from the city, prevent my attendance on so interesting an 
occasion. 

I should have greatly enjoyed the opportunity of joining in person 
in your demonstration, but can do so only by my best wishes and 
cordial sympathy. 

Very respectfully, 

H. E. Davies, Jr. 

From General Barry. 

Headquarters Northern Frontier, \ 
Buffalo, N. Y., June 28, 1866. ) 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sachem : 

Dear Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the 
invitation of the Tammany Society to participate in its celebration 
of the approaching anniversary of our National Independence. 

I regret extremely that public duties on the frontier will prevent 
mv accepting the invitation, and will deprive me of the liigh gratifi- 



Scvcjity-Eighth Celebration, 67 

cation of meeting the friends of tJic Union on so joyous an occa- 
sion. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

William F. Barry, 
Colonel Second U. S. Art, Bt. Brig.-Gen. U.S.A. 

From the Hon. Nelson Taylor. 

Washington, D. C, July i, 1866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sachem of the Tanunany Society., 
or Columbian Order: 
Dear Sir — The cordial invitation of the Society over which 
you have the honor to preside, to take part in the coming Anniver- 
sary of our National Independence, is received. 

I feel myself highly honored in being invited to a participation in 
the ceremonies on the occasion, and regret exceedingly to be 
obliged to state that my official duties will constrain me to forego 
the pleasure of being present. 

Be assured, however, though not present, that my feelings and 
sympathies are fully and wholly enlisted in the object and cause of 
the celebration. With the fervent hope and trust that the influence 
of the patriotic ceremonies which have ever characterized the cele- 
bration of Independence-day by the Tammany Society, may extend 
throughout the land and unite all devoted and patriotic citizens in a 
band of brotherhood, to stay and drive back the fanaticism which 
seems to rule the hour, and threatens the destruction of " the per- 
fect Union bequeathed to us by our patriotic forefathers." 
With sentiments of respect, 

I remain your obedient servant. 

Nelson Taylor. 

From the Hon. JoJin P. Stockton. 

Trenton, N. J., Sunday, July i, 1866. 
To Hon. John T. Hoffman, Esq., City Hall., A^ew York : 

My Dear Sir — Permit me, through you, to thank the Tammany 
Society for their cordial invitation to be with them at their celebra- 
tion of the anniversary of our National Independence. 

I regret that my professional engagements will prevent my being 
present on the occasion, but desire, at the same time, to assure the 
Society that it gives me great satisfaction to indorse heartily the 
noble and patriotic sentiments so appropriately expressed in their 
kind invitation. If I did not believe that the restoration of the 



68 Tammany Society. 

Union by the recent war ought to be acknowledged and recognised 
by all departments of our Government as an established and practi- 
cal fact, I should find it difficult to discover any reason to celebrate 
at this time the anniversary of our National Independence. 

I am firmly convinced that there are pure-minded, patriotic men in 
this country sufficient in number to prevent " the Union bequeathed 
to us by our fathers, and which force has been unable to divide, 
from being annulled by partisan politicians." 

I am, with much respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

John P. Stockton. 



} 



From tlic Hon. Tunis G. Bergen. 

House of Representatives, 
Washington, D. C, Ju7ie 26, 1866 

John T. Hoffman, Esq.: 

Dear Sir — I acknowledge the honor of the receipt, this day, of 
an invitation to attend and take part in the celebration of the Anni- 
versary of our National Independence, from the Tammany Society 
of New York, a society, if my memory serves me aright, whose his- 
tory is as old as that of our National Independence ; whose object 
has alwavs been the best interests of our common country, the pre- 
servation of our liberties, and the perpetuation of our beloved 
Union. I think it probable that my duties here will permit me to 
visit mv home on the occasion referred to ; in which case, if my 
health permits, I will be happy to accept your invitation. 

Yours respectfully, 

Tunis G. Bergen. 

From the Hon. yames Brooks. 

New York, July 3, 1866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman : 

Dear Sir— Absence from the city will prevent my acceptance of 
the polite invitation of the Tammany Society to join with them in 
their celebration of the Fourth. 

I cordially concur in the Union principles and Union sentiments 
set forth in your letter of invitation, and rejoice to see Tammany 
Hall re-proclaiming its old creed— "The Union must and shall be 
preserved." 

Yours respectfully, 

James Brooks. 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 69 

From the Hon. James DcPeyster Ogden. 

New York, June 28, 1866. 
To John T. Hoffmax, Grand Sachem^ Tammany Society : 

Dear Sir — I received with pleasure your invitation to share 
with you in the celebration of the Anniversary of our National 
Independence ; and I acknowledge your courtesy as less in honor 
of the day than of the principles and tone of your address. 
With due consideration, I remain 

Your obedient servant, 

James DeP. Ogden. 

From the Hon. Washington Hunt. 

N w York, June 2,0, 1866. 

Gentlemen — I would gladly accept your invitation to take part 
in the ensuing celebration of the anniversary of our National Inde- 
pendence, at Tammany Hall, but my early return to the country will 
deprive me of the pleasure of uniting with you in person on this 
rrrteresting occasion. 

I subscribe without reserve to the just and patriotic views which 
you have so well expressed in regard to the present political crisis. 
The spirit of disunion and despotism manifested by the responsible 
majority in Congress, in the avowed design to exclude eleven States 
from their rightful position as members of the Federal Union, and 
to govern them as subjugated provinces by the laws of conquest, 
is alike revolutionary and treasonable, and utterly repugnant to the 
principles of republican government established by our ancestors. 
The Federal Government was intended as a beneficent agency to 
unite the States, to protect them in their rights, and to confer upon 
their people with lavish hand the blessings of domestic peace, har- 
mony, and security. But of late we have seen its powers employed 
to defeat all these great and paramount ends. It is now made an 
instrument of fanaticism and revenge, and wielded according to the 
varying dictates of party interest or passion to keep the sections 
asunder, to foster hateful antipathies, and prolong the miseries of 
civil discord. 

Not content with the exercise of arbitrary power over the States 
and people of the South, the action of the present Congress displays 
a blind disregard of the rights of all the States, as fixed by the Con- 
stitution. 

The evident tendency and design of the prevailing policy is to 



70 Tammany Society. 

reduce the States to insignificance by depriving them of their most 
essential prerogatives, and transferring all the important powers of 
government to the Federal head. This process of centralization is 
going on with fearful rapidity and boldness. A right of Federal 
control is deliberately asserted over regulations of suffrage, vagrancy, 
pauperism, education, banking, insurance, and a variety of subjects 
of domestic concern which belong to the inherent jurisdiction of the 
States. A constantly extending system of bitreaii administration, 
borrowed from the most absolute monarchies of the Old World, and 
peculiarly anti-Aviericaii in every respect, proclaims an oversha- 
dowing consolidated government, resting on the ruins of constitu- 
tional liberty. The time has come when the people must decide 
between these conflicting systems and principles of government. I 
persuade myself that they will be found true to the cause of public 
liberty, and faithful to the rights of the States, as understood and 
guarded with patriotic vigilance by the statesmen of former days. 
They will come to the rescue of the country and demand an imme- 
diate restoration of the Union according to the Constitution. 
I remain, gentlemen. 

Very respectfully and truly yours, 

Washington Hunt. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, John Kelly, 
Charles G. Cornell, and others. 



From the Hon. S. jf. Tildcn. 

New York, July 3, 1866. 

Gentlemen — Regretting that I cannot personally attend the cele- 
bration of the Fourth of July by the Tammany Society, to which you 
have invited me, I nevertheless concur most cordially in the patriotic 
sentiments so eloquently expressed in the sentiments of the Sachems. 

Your venerable society may well fehcitatfi itself upon its political 
retrospect. It did everything in its power to avert civil strife by a 
policy which was reproached as too conciliatory by those who did 
not comprehend the danger. When the conflict of arms came, it 
cordially maintained the nationality of our people in a confederated 
republic, which Jefferson and Madison and Jackson always held to 
be incapable of being dissolved, except by a revolutionary destruc- 
tion of the Constitution. And now that peace has once more hap- 
pily returned, it claims that constitutional rights shall be restored 
throughout the whole country ; that every State shall be replaced in 
its constitutional orbit ; that we shall once more present to the world 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 71 

a continental system of States bound together by a constitutional 
Union — founded on the true principle of local self-government and 
individual liberty, and sustained by the voluntary action of a people 
among whom government is everywhere carried on by the consent 
of the governed. 

Alas ! that this benign work of peace should be more difficult than 
the fierce struggle of war. But so it is. 

Multitudes of our fellow-citizens are so infatuated with fear of the 
danger of disunion, which has now passed, that they create a dan- 
ger of centralism fatal to all liberty — to all constitutional govern- 
ment — and at last, by inevitable reaction, to the Union itself 

Instead of restoring the system of our fathers, the purpose to do 
which alone consecrated our cause against secession as righteous, 
they would erect upon this fair continent eleven Polands, eleven 
Hungaries, eleven Irelands ! 

And the same principles of despotism which they would apply to 
our recent enemies they freely extend to the whole Northern 
people. 

I say the principles of despotism. For centralism is despotism. 
Was centralism ever before so rampant as now ? The distinguished 
characteristic of the controlling element of the so-called Republican 
party, which now sways the two Houses of Congress, is a total dis- 
regard of all limitations of power established by our written con- 
stitutions ; an overwhelming contempt for all fundamental law, 
whether State or Federal. 

No right of localities or of individuals is deemed sacred. 

The principles which underlie our whole political system are not 
respected. They do not seem to be even comprehended. 

The present Congress and the advanced Republican party are a 
rule unto themselves. Their own opinion of what is convenient or 
expedient they should do is the only limitation of power which they 
acknowledge ; and it is their opinion that they should do pretty much 
everything, in all places and with respect to everybody. 

Of course, such a false system of political philosophy does now, 
as it has in all ages, immediately degenerate into selfish rapacity. 
Congress is mainly occupied in putting new manacles on the trade 
and industry of the country, and the most respectable representatives 
of the prevalent political ideas are voting money out of everybody's 
pockets into their own. 

In this condition of things nothing but the principles of the Demo- 
cratic party, as maintained by Jefferson and Jackson, can save the 
country. . There is no organized agency which can give effect to 



72 Tamma7iy Society. 

these principles except the Democratic party, with such alhances as 
it may form in the cause of liberal government. 

From the day of the accession of President Johnson I have felt 
renewed confidence that the American people would not only main- 
tain our national unity, bdt would reconstruct our political institu- 
tions on their ancient foundations. 

The political ideas of Jefferson and Jackson, in which President 
Johnson was educated, and which have become incarnated in his 
very nature ; the character of the work he was providentially called 
to undertake in bringing back into our system the people of 
eleven States lately in revolt, which he could only do by addressing 
the intellects and sentiments of that people, were guarantees that he 
would recur to the original fountains of our American principles of 
government. 

As for us, we could not but accept what we had sought when we 
edeavored to elect McClellan ; first, the reestablishment of national 
unity ; secondly, the starting of the restored Government in its new 
career, upon its original and true principles. 

The situation controls, not the plans or wishes of individuals. 

In my judgment, neither President Johnson nor the Democratic 
party could stop what events so clearly commanded. 

Last year, at your Fourth of July celebration, I promised him in your 
name, and in the name of the Democratic party, amid your acclama- 
tions, a liberal cooperation in the great work ; and I afterwards 
repeated that assurance in person. 

The time has now come when all parties who favor President 
Johnson's plan of pacification must act with reference to the election 
of the next Congress. 

President Johnson will be under the necessity of appealing to the 
whole body of the people, accepting all who come to him on the 
issue he has made, and separating from all who go against him on 
that issue. 

If he should attempt the narrow and futile scheme urged upon 
him by those who are neither his friends nor the friends of his 
cause, of carrying out his policy through the exclusive agency of the 
Republican party, in case he can capture it and convert it to his 
purposes, he will find his machine turned against him in the hour 
of his need. He will find himself, like the unfortunate object of 
Turkish jealousy, tied up in a bag, to be silently strangled. 

I do not doubt that he will act on the larger policy which would 
have governed Andrew Jackson or Henry Clay under like circum- 
stances. 



Seveiiiy-Eighth Celebraiioji. 73 

He will cast himself upon the whole body of our people, leaving 
parties and organizations to take care of themselves. He will be 
triumphantly sustained. 

The Democratic party should pursue a liberal policy in all its 
actions, and accept as brethren all who stand with it on the present 
issue. It is too powerful to be jealous. It has too great a motive 
for the restoration of its own traditional principles of government to 
an ascendency in the councils of the country, which they made great, 
prosperous, and happy, to think of anything less grand or less noble. 

With much respect, I remain, gentlemen. 

Yours truly, 

S. J. TiLDEN. 

Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sachem, and Hon. John Kelly 
and others, Sachems. 

From W. B. Lazvrence. 

OcHRB Point, Newport, R. I., 7 
June 29, 1866. ) 

Gentlemen — In reply to your invitation to take part with the 
Tammany Society in the celebration of the Fourth of July next, per- 
mit me to reciprocate congratulations on the fact that we are still 
allowed to claim a National Anniversary ; even though that reunion 
of the North and the South, which we had last year so much reason 
to suppose would, ere this, have been fully accomplished, is now 
indefinitely deferred. 

Nor does the exclusion of eleven members of the Confederation 
from all participation in the national councils affect the disfranchised 
States alone. No publicist can recognise as obligatory, according 
to the spirit of our Federal Constitution, however expediency may 
compel us to recognise its authority, the legislation of a Congress 
from which are arbitrarily excluded the delegates of the sovereignty 
of nearly one-third of the States, to say nothing of the forced ab- 
sence of the representatives of their respective populations. 

The restoration of the integrity of the Union, or rather its main- 
tenance unimpaired, for it cannot be admitted that any of the States 
ever ceased to exist as such, is the great issue now before the coun- 
try. Though believing that the mode suggested on the field of 
battle, known as the Sherman-Johnston arrangement, was the sys- 
tem indicated alike by constitutional and international law, I am well 
aware that in the attainment of a result by which all the depart- 
ments of the Government in every State can be again brought to the 

4 



74 Tanwiany Society. 

laerformance of their Constitutional functions, the forms by which it 
is accomplished are altogether matters of subordinate considera- 
tion. 

No one can doubt the sincere patriotism by which President 
Johnson — on whom, owing to a diabolical assassination, was sud- 
denly thrust the supreme power^adopted, in lieu of the military 
convention, another plan of reconstruction. That plan which, in 
A'ielding by its numerous exclusions from the proffered amnesty 
everything that could be asked even by the most intolerant zealot, it 
might well have been supposed would have disarmed all opposition 
to the immediate reception of the repentant States in the only posi- 
tion which, under a constitution that i>.cognises no distinction 
among the members of the Union, they could legitimately occupy. 

The principle of the J2ts postlijuinii would, on the submission of 
the Confederate authorities, in any view of the nature of the contest, 
have replaced the State, which had obeyed the government of the 
usurpation, as a government de facto, in their pristine relations to 
the Union. 

If, however, we disregard the peculiar character of our Federal 
institutions, and consider the Southern States as a country con- 
quered by our arms, the modern laws of the civilized world, while 
investing the United States with all the attributes of the sovereignty 
exercised by the de facto Government of the Confederacy, as well as 
with all the public property, secures to the populations the same 
political and civil rights as are enjoyed by the States with which 
they thus become reincorporated. Such has been the course in 
Europe in the many political vicissitudes which the States of the 
Continent have undergone during the present century. In no view 
of the matter could the inhabitants of the South, on the final 
surrender of the Confederate armies, have been in a worse con- 
dition as to political rights than were those of Louisiana, of 
Florida, and of the ceded portions of Mexico, at the time of their 
respective annexations to the United States. The i^rovisions in the 
treaties of cession for admission to equal political rights were, 
indeed, merely declaratory of the law of nations. 

Without resorting to the pages of history, one would suppose 
that the most reckless American statesman would wish to avoid per- 
petuating in the hearts of the people of the South such feelings of 
inveterate hatred towards us of the North, as have made for centuries 
the discontent of Ireland a source of continuous embarrassment to 
the so-called United Kingdom. 

Indeed, had it not been for our laws of neutrality, which go far 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 75 

beyond what international obligations require, this deadly hostility 
would" have ere this placed the most valuable of the British colonies 
in America in possession of the denationalized subjects of the Queen, 
to serve as the basis of operations against the metropolis. 

Till the unhappy secession of the South it was the proud expec- 
tation of every American to see our representative federative sys- 
tem extending the authority of the Union to the remotest portion of 
the American Continent. Whether these aspirations are to be 
renewed must depend on the character of the future relations 
between the different sections of our country. That nothing but 
internal dissensions can prevent such a result is clearly foreseen by 
foreign statesmen, who are now presenting as the strongest argu- 
ment in favor of a general pacification and the establishment of a 
common organ, like our Congress, for all the nations of Europe, the 
danger to them from the overwhelming power which, at no distant 
day, the North American Confederation must control. " The two 
sovereignties, that of the individual States and that of the Federal 
Government," says Michel Chevalier, in a paper which undoubtedly 
gives the Imperial inspirations, "had from 1789 to 1861 no more 
difficulties than occur in private life in the intercourse of near and 
aflectionate relatives. After a contest forever memorable, the South 
has been conquered. Slavery is abolished. This work accom- 
plished, the collective sovereignty of the Union resumes its vigorous 
life." 

Nor can it be denied that never before was there greater encour- 
agement for the legitimate extension of our political system. Europe 
is on the eve of a contest which, whatever changes it iriay effect in 
the balance of power among the different states, leaves no room for 
intervention in the affairs of America. 

It requires no system of public law peculiar to our continent to 
vindicate the right of any people to prevent the occupation of 
adjacent territory by a foreign power, in a way that may operate to 
the prejudice of their interests. France, when she announced to 
Prussia in 1830 that the entrance of her troops into Belgium (the 
object of which was to aid the King of the Netherlands in recover- 
ing his authority) would be followed by its instantaneous occupa- 
tion by a French army, had no occasion to appeal to any Monroe 
doctrine. The universal law of nations justified her in protecting her 
own institutions by preventing intervention in those of her immediate 
neighbor. Nor can it be doubted that we had in 1861 a full right to 
resist, as an act hostile towards us, and which is the foundation of 
all existing difficulties in that quarter, the movements of France 



76 Tammajiy Society. 

against Mexico, whether made under the color of the tripartite con- 
vention, or in her own name. 

The certainty that the repeal of our neutrality laws, though we 
violated no rule of international law, would place Canada in the 
hands of the Fenians, as well as the knowledge that in any war with 
the United States it could not be retained a week, might render 
Great Britain not averse to a renunciation of territory, the possession 
of which her political economists have long contended was a posi- 
tive disadvantage to her pecuniary prosperity. 

Fortunate it may be deemed for the country that we have at the 
head of the Government, at an epoch pregnant with mighty events, 
a Chief Magistrate who, instructed by actual participation in the most 
important public affairs during more than a quarter of a century, 
has already commanded, by his practical statesmanship, the respect 
of the rulers of other nations. On him we may rely, when he shall 
be aided by a Cabinet founded on the " unit " doctrine of his great 
Tennessee predecessor, to carry out a policy which, while it heals 
all internal dissensions, by rendering simple justice to every State, 
may establish for the Republic such territorial boundaries as will 
render, for ever after, impossible all foreign assaults against its 
political integrity. 

With much regret that I am unable personally to interchange views 
at this interesting crisis with the members of Tammany Society, and 
repeating my firm conviction that it becomes all patriots to rally 
around the President in the impending contest, 
I am, very respectfully. 

Your fellow-Democrat, 

W. B. Lawrence. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sachem, and the Sachems of Tam- 
many Society, etc., etc. 

From "y. S. BoswortJi. 

New York, July 2, 1866. 

John T. Hoffman, Grand SacJieni — I acknowledge the receipt 
of an invitation from the Tammany Society to take part in its cele- 
bration of the next anniversary of our National Independence. 

This Society " invites to her celebration all those who believe that 
the Union was created to be perpetual ; that the States are equal 
under the Constitution ; that the restoration of the Union by the 
recent war ought to be acknowledged and recognised by all the 
departments of the Federal Government ; that a spirit of fraternity 



Scvc7tiy-Eighik Celebration. 77 

and magnanimity should prevail in all our councils and our policy ; 
and that the South, having accepted the lessons of war, and relin- 
quished t)ie heresies of secession, should be at once admitted to her 
Constitutional representation." 

The eleven States that are now arbitrarily exxluded from all parti- 
cipation in the Government, can appeal to the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence in support of the self-evident truths, that "life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness " are inalienable rights ; and " that to secure 
their rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their 
just powers from the consent of the governed." 

Cannot these eleven States enumerate, as literally and ruinously 
applicable to them, " repeated injuries and usurpations " by the 
present Congress, which are specified in that instrument as having 
been practised by the then King of Great Britain against the peace 
and rights of the States which achieved our independence ; " all having 
in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these 
States ? " 

Cannot these eleven States complain with truth and justice that the 
present Congress has refused to enact laws the most wholesome and 
necessary for the public good ? 

That it has refused to pass other laws due to the rights and interests 
of these several States, "unless their people would relinquish the 
right of representation in the Legislature ; a right inestimable to 
them, and formidable to tyrants only ? " 

That it "has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither 
swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance ? " 

That it " has kept among us in times of peace standing armies, 
without the consent of our Legislatures ? " 

That it has enacted laws " for quartering large bodies of troops 
among us. 

" For imposing taxes upon us without our consent. 

" For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, 
and altering fundamentally the forms of our government. 

" For suspending our legislatures, and declaring themselves in- 
vested with power to legislate for tis in all cases whatever. 

" That in every stage of these ojjpressions we have petitioned for 
redress, in the most humble terms," and have complied fully with 
the conditions successively imposed upon us in order to our being 
admitted to representation, and "our repeated petitions have been 
answered only by repeated injury." A Congress "whose character 
is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant," is unfit to 
legislate for a free people. 



78 Tainiiiany Society. 

The Constitution of the United States declares that it was ordained 
and enacted " in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, 
ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote 
the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves 
and our posterity." 

These States have renounced the heresy of secession, and professed 
their allegiance to the Constitution and Government of the United 
States. They have united their legislative sanction to the emancipa- 
tion of their slaves. They have repudiated the obligations which 
they contracted in their effort to establish their independence as a 
separate Government. They have complied with the conditions 
imposed, to test their loyalty to the Union, yet they are refused all 
representation in the Government which exacts their obedience to 
the laws it enacts, though many of the Representatives elected by 
them are known to us to be men of undoubted loyalty, and were 
accepted as such during the whole period of the Rebellion. 

These unjust and unconstitutional measures paralyze industry, 
increase and perpetuate insecurity and anxiety among the people of 
these States, tend to alienate the feelings of those who are deprived 
of their constitutional aod inalienable rights, and to make a weaker 
and hated, instead of a more perfect bond of union. 

If the Democracy of the country will but practise towards each 
other the spirit of fraternity and magnanimity which your invitation 
invokes, " in all our councils and policy," and will rally and unite 
their energies in the patriotic work of restoring the Union, establish- 
ing justice, and insuring domestic tranquillity, we may hope to 
escape soon from the perils which now threaten our present security 
and future stability. 

I shall take great pleasure, if it shall be practicable for me to be 
present, in uniting in a celebration having such objects in view, and 
do not doubt that they will be realized, if their accomplishment shall 
be the paramount object of an intelligent and well-organized effort. 

Very respectfully yours, 

J. S. BOSWORTH. 

From H. A. N^elson. 

PouGHKEEPSiE, July 2, 1 866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman : 

My Dear Sir — I have received the invitation of the Tammany 
Society, or Columbian Order, to take part with them in celebrating 
the coming anniversary of our National Independence, and regret 



Seventy-Eighth CeUbration. 79 

that I cannot accept by reason of an engagement previously made 
for that day. 

The action of the Tammany Society during the long and sangui- 
nary war waged by the Federal Government to suppress rebellion 
has merited and received my cordial indorsement and approval. 
They appreciated the value of our republican Government, in which 
the son of the humblest citizen might reach the highest official sta- 
tion, and were ever ready and willing fully to perform their part of 
the duty imposed to hand down to posterity unimpaired the free 
institutions inherited from our forefathers. In the days of prosperi- 
ty and in the days of armed conflict, they believed that this Union 
was created to be perpetual, and by acts evinced the sincerity of 
their belief. On the 15th of November, 1777, the thirteen original 
States did, by delegates in Congress assembled, agree to articles of 
confederation and perpetual union, in and by which they did 
" solemnly plight and engage the faith of our (their) respective con- 
stituents that they shall abide by the determinations of the United 
States, in Congress assembled, on all questions which by the said 
confederation are submitted to them, and that the articles thereof 
shall be inviolably observed by the States we respectfully represent, 
and that the Union shall be perpetual." And the representatives 
of the people of the United States, in convention assembled, on the 
17th day of September, 1787, "in order to form a more perfect 
Union," did establish the Constitution of the United States. Know- 
ing this, the Tammany Society needed no argument or course of 
reasoning to convince them that no State had a right to secede from 
the Union or to dissolve its relations with the sister States under 
the Constitution, and that the attempt by force of arms to maintain 
a claim to such right was rebellion ; they heartily joined with the 
patriotic masses to suppress it. And when, during the bloody con- 
flict, stout hearts doubted as to the result, and, as one of the means 
to produce success. Congress adopted a proposition to amend the 
Federal Constitution for the abolition of slavery throughout the 
land, the Tammany Society indorsed the action of the Democratic 
representatives in Congress who cast their votes in favor of the 
proposition, and without the votes of the Democratic members of 
Congress the proposed amendment could not then have been 
adopted. 

War is ended, rebellion is crushed, and j^eace has come ; the 
Tammany Society steps forward and indorses the action of Andrew 
Johnson, President of the United States, in claiming that the people 
of all the States shall again enjoy the rights, privileges, and bless- 



8o Tammany Society. 

ings guaranteed by the Constitution ; and the day is not distant 
when that claim will be acknowledged and conceded, and every 
State represented, not only by its star on the flag, but by its repre- 
sentatives in the Congress of the nation. Well may the Society of 
which you are now the chief celebrate the anniversary of our nation's 
birth, and manfully insist that all shall enjoy the full fruits of peace. 
With such enjoyment, as one people, may those of the North and 
those of the South work together in increasing their former pros- 
perity and present greatness. 

Again expressing my regret that I cannot join with you in the 
proposed celebration, I give you 

The Tammany Society — May they in the future ever be, as they 
have been in the past, right. 

I am truly your friend and obedient servant, 

H. A. Nelson, 

From W. F. Allen. 

Oswego, July 3, 1866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sachem : 

Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the invita- 
tion of the Tammany Society to take part in its celebration of the 
approaching anniversary of our National Independence, and regret 
that my necessary absence from the city will deprive me of the plea- 
sure of meeting with you on that occasion. 

I regret it the more, for the reason that it appears to me a very fit 
time and a suitable occasion for all who believe in the perpetuity of 
the Union and the equahty of the States, who respect the Constitution 
and love their country, to pronounce against those acts of the Fede- 
ral Government, which, having their origin in ignorance or disregard 
of the principles of the Constitution and the theory of our Govern- 
ment, are subversive of both. 

By whatever motives the acts referred to and the assumptions of 
power by Congress are prompted, I cannot but regard them as trea- 
sonable and wicked as was the late armed resistance to the lawful 
authority of the Government, and perhaps more dangerous to the 
liberties of the people and the rights of the States, because the 
attack upon our institutions being more subtle and insidious, may 
not be as readily perceived and promptly resisted. 

I rejoice in the catholic spirit of your invitation, embracing, as it 
does, all who desire a speedy restoration of the Government to its 
normal condition, and a return of good feeling and cordial good-will 



Seventy-EigJith Celebration. 8 1 

among those who are destined to Hve under the same Government, 
and that a government of the people. 

I doubt not that as the voice of Tammany during the existence 
of the rebelHon was never uncertain, but always outspoken, decided 
and influential upon the side of Constitutional Government over 
every part of the Union ; so now, that the din of arms has ceased, 
and peace has returned with all its blessings, its voice may be 
equally decided and potential in resisting the spirit of fanaticism and 
aggression which prevails in some of the departments of the Fede- 
ral Government, and in demanding that the Constitution and laws 
shall resume their sway, and that States and people shall be permit- 
ted to resume their rightful positions under the Constitution. 

Very respectfully, etc. 

W. F. Allen, 

From Harmon S. Cutting. 

Buffalo, July 2, 1866. 
Gentlemen — Your invitation to take part with Tammany in its 
celebration of the approaching anniversary of our National Inde- 
pendence is received. It will not be in my power to accept it ; but 
perirrit me to express my thanks for having been again remembered 
by your time-honored Society on the occasion of one of* its great 
annual festivals. 

The interest attaching to the proposed celebration will be inferior 
to none which has ever preceded it ; and at no time in the remarka- 
ble history of " Old Tammany " has the great Conservative Demo- 
cracy had better reason to regard her with pride and satisfaction 
than now. 

In the brief but admirable summary contained in your circular is 
to be found the only " platform " upon which conservative men of all 
parties can stand together in the present crisis of the country ; and 
I cannot doubt that the elections of the coming autumn will show 
that Tammany not only, but an overwhelming majority of the Ame- 
rican people, will practically adopt the sentiments which you have so 
eloquently expressed. 

Regretting that I cannot join in your celebration, 

I am, gentlemen, very truly yours, 

Harmon S. Cutting. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sachem; 

Hon. John Kelly and others, Sachems, etc. 
4* 



82 Tammany Society. 

Front the Hon Wm. T. Odell. 

Ballston Spa, June 30, 1866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, John Kelly, and others : 

Gentlemen — Yours of the 23d instant, on the part of the Tam- 
many Society, inviting me to take part in its celebration of the 
coming anniversary of our National Independence, was duly 
received ; and I regret that my engagements are such that I cannot 
participate witli your time-honored Society in celebrating a day 
sacred to every true American heart — that should be a day of rejoic- 
ing throughout the entire land. I fully agree with you in the views 
expressed in your circular, of the situation of our countr}-, and the 
policy that should be pursued by " all departments of the Federal 
Government." I am one of those who believe that the Union was 
created to be perpetual, and secession a heresy ; that there were no 
reasonable grounds for the rebellion of the Southern States ; that 
redress, for whatever wrongs they complained of, should have been 
sought under the Constitution ; that the Government was called 
upon to put down that rebellion, and that it was the duty of every 
citizen to aid the Government in its eiTorts — not in a spirit of hatred 
or fanatical zeal to exterminate the inhabitants of one portion of our 
country, but with a high-toned patriotism and self-sacrificing philan- 
thropy to preserve the free institutions bequeathed to us by our 
fathers, and jDrevent a single star from being stricken from our 
national flag ; to sustain the Constitution under which we had pros- 
pered so long, and execute the laws throughout our entire land ; that 
the fruits of the toil and suffering of the fathers of the Republic 
should not be cast aside as a v/orthless thing, but should be 
esteemed as above all other earthly good ; that the Constitution is 
alike binding upon all, and should not be trampled upon either 
North or South ; that all should be taught to yield obedience to it. 
And it seems to me that now, when the South has received that les- 
son, and accepted the situation in which the folly and crime of their 
leaders have placed them, there can be no reason why the restora- 
tion of the Union should not be acknowledged, and they admitted to 
their Constitutional representation. That it is the duty of every 
lover of his country to exert himself to consummate a result so 
desirable, and to teach party politicians in Congress that the people 
have been, and are now, bearing the burdens of the late war not 
with the view of keeping in power this party or that, or giving place 
to any particular set of men, but for the purpose of maintaining the 
Government of our fathers. That the States still are entitled to all 



Seventy-El <^h III Celebration. 83 

the rights reserved to them in the Federal compact, except so far as 
they have been changed by the late amendment to the Constitution 
ratified by the States, and that they call for no other amendment to 
that instrument ; that it is of binding force and effect, and needs not 
be patched up, like an old garment, by every demagogue who may 
find his way to Washington. 

Trusting that the day will be one of enjoyment to you and those 
who meet with you, and hoping that it will be celebrated with the 
same spirit by your Society, and the sons of America through all 
coming time, I am, gents. 

Your obedient servant, Wm. T. Odell. 

Ftvni the Hon. Mycr Stroiise. 
^ Washington, D. C, July 2, 1S66. 

Dear Sir — Be pleased to accept my sincere thanks for your kind 
invitation to participate in the celebration of the anniversary of our 
National Independence by the Tammany Society, and be assured 
that I regret exceedingly to be compelled to decline it, on account 
of public business. Your letter expresses, most truthfully, the 
lamentable fact, that, although " the Rebellion has been suppressed ; 
alas ! the perfect Union bequeathed to us by our patriotic forefathers 
has not yet been restored." No ! nor can we hope for the restora- 
tion of the Union of the States under the Constitution until the 
honest and patriotic citizens of the North come to the rescue, and 
by their votes disjDlace the Radical destructive majority of this Con- 
gress. The present stains of our country is really more critical 
and dangerous than it has been at any period in its history, and 
nothing can save the Republic from becoming a centralized des- 
potism, but the bold, free and patriotic action of the people in sus- 
taining the wise and statesmanlike poHcy of President Johnson, and 
by electing men of principle, men of honor, and men of enlarged 
and liberal views to Congress. Not till then can we hope to see our 
fragmented country once more truly and fraternally united. To this 
end I know the members of the time-honored Tammany Society are 
earnestly and actively laboring. We are opposed by a powerful, 
malignant, and unprincipled party, whose sole aim is the perpetua- 
tion of power, the destruction of civil liberty, and the Constitutional 
rights of the people. That every Democrat and Conservative man 
may do his duty, and the sunshine of Union may again illumine 
the horizon of the Republic, is the hearty prayer of 

Your obedient servant, Myer Strouse. 

Hon. J. T. Hoffman. 



84 Tammany Society. 

From D. R. Floyd yoncs. 

South Ovster Bay, L. I., Jicne 29, 1866. 

Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sachem, etc. : 

Dear Sir — I much regret that I am compelled to decline the 
invitation with which I have been honored by the Tammany Society, 
to take part in its Qelebration of the approaching anniversary of our 
National Independence. 

" The conflict of arms has indeed ceased, and the rebellion been sub- 
dued," but the restoration of the Union has not been consummated. 
Although Congress, with singular unanimity, declared that the war 
was waged to bring about this result, and although it has been suc- 
cessfully and gloriously terminated, yet those who have control in 
the legislative branch of the Government, wilfully repudiating both 
the letter and spirit of the resolution thus solemnly adopted, are 
striving (and have thus far succeeded in the effort) to postpone to an 
indefinite period the benefits sure to result from the fulfilment of 
the great and patriotic purpose for which so much of the treasure 
of the people has been, and must continue to be, expended, and 
such generous libations of the blood of our citizens in every portion 
of the Union memorably displayed. 

If the acts of so humble an individual as myself, during the whole 
of the late civil war, have attracted the notice of the people, they, 
like the words and deeds of the patriotic Society of which you are 
at present the honored head, will be found in entire accordance with 
the spirit of the resolution of Congress before alluded to, and in aid 
of the National Government in all efforts put forth to suppress the 
rebellion and restore the Union. 

I feel, therefore, that I may freely denounce the unholy attempt of 
Congress to defeat, for mere party purposes, the noble efforts of Pres- 
ident Johnson, seconded by the entire Democratic party of the country, 
to bring about at once and with no conditions, save those of loyalty 
and devotion to the Government, the Constitutional Union of the States. 

President Johnson is doing his whole duty in this anomalous but 
unnecessary condition of public affairs ; and I should doubt, which I 
do not, the intelligence of the people and their fidelity to the con- 
stitutional obligations resting upon them, if I did not firmly believe 
that that intelligence and fidelity will both be signally manifested in 
the coming elections, and the sound principles and statesmanlike 
policy of the President triumphantly vindicated. 
Yours most truly, 

D. R. Floyd Jones. 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 85 

From R. IV. Peckham. 

Albany, July 3, 1866. 
Gentlemen — I regret my inability to attend your proposed 
celebration of our National Independence. The life of our Repub- 
lic lies in the union and equality of all the States. I agree with 
you, therefore, in the impolicy as well as in the injustice and 
illegality of excluding the Southern States from representation in 
Congress. 

In these days I do not take an active part in politics, but I cannot 
refrain from expressing my cordial concurrence in the spirit and 
purpose of your celebration. 

Thanking you for your courtesy, 

I am your friend, R. W. Peckham. 

Hon. Jk)HN T. Hoffman, etc., Commitee. 

From Thos. B. Carroll. 

Troy, July 2, 1866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sachem : 

Dear Sir — I have again to thank the Tammany Society for an 
invitation to participate with her braves in the celebration of the 
Fourth of July, and again to regret that another engagement will 
not permit me to accept of the invitation. Tammany has a univer- 
sal attestation of her fidelity to the Union and institutions of the 
United States, in times of peace as well as war. In the great strug- 
gle before us for constitutional liberty she will have the united, and, 
I trust, triumphant cooperation of all patriotic and disinterested 

citizens. 

Your friend and obedient servant, 

Thos. B. Carroll. 

From John V. L. Pruyn. 

Albany, Jrdy 3, 1866. 

Dear Sir — I very much regret that I cannot accept the invitation 
so kindly sent to me by the Tammany Society to join its members 
to-morrow in celebrating our National Anniversary. 

At no time in our history has it been more important to bring 
before the American people the great principles upon which their 
Government was founded, and which are the basis of our National 
prosperity and power. This, I am sure, the Tammany Society will 
not fail to do on this occasion ; and without reference to parties or to 



86 Tammany Society. 

names, to protest, as it has done heretofore, against all invasions of 
arbitrary power, and all violations of great constitutional principles. 
Yours, with great respect, 

John V. L. Pruyn. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sachem, New York. 

From Richard Vaux. 

Philadelphia, Jioie 28, 1866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman : 

My Dear Sir — For many years past the Tammany Society has 
honored me with an invitation to its general celebration of the Fourth 
of July. I had the pleasure of being present the last time, on such 
an occasion, in 1842, with the late George M. Dallas. 

It will give me great satisfaction to unite now in the celebration 
of our Nation's Birthday with the Democracy of New York. The 
present perils to our system of Government are growing greater 
every day. Courage is demanded to denounce New England trea- 
son in its last form of consolidation, and negro equality and destruc- 
tion of individual, political, and State rights. 

Let me, then, accept your invitation ; and be pleased to inform the 
Committee that I will have the pleasure of uniting with said Society 
in its proceedings. 

Very truly your friend, 

Richard Vaux. 

Fro7n yaines Maitrice. 

Hon. John T. Hoffman, ChairtJian, etc. : 

My Dear Sir — I am honored by your invitation to unite with 
the Tammany Society in the celebration of the National Anniver- 
sary on the Fourth of July instant, and regret that other engage- 
ments will deprive me of the pleasure of being present. 

The influence of " Old Tammany " in our next State election — an 
election which will go far to determine the political future of the 
country — cannot be over-estimated ; and the sentiments so well 
expressed in your invitation will assuredly receive the approval of 
the people, and insure the triumph of those nominated to uphold 
and advance them. 

Very truly yours, 

James Maurice. 

New York, July 2, 1866. 



Seventy-Eighth Celch'ation. 87 

From y. Vanderpocl. 

Albany, July 2, 1866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sachem, etc. : 

SiR_I regret that my engagements are such as to prevent my 
accepting the invitation of the Tammany Society, to join with them 
in their celebration of the approaching anniversary of our National 
Independence. 

I trust that the spirit of reverence for the Constitution and the 
rights of the States under it, which has ever been entertained by 
your honorable Society, may be extended through all classes of our 
people ; so that the bitter conflict from which the nation has just 
emerged, while it has vindicated the supremacy of the Federal 
power, may not weaken the bond of Union between the States. 
The preservation of this Constitution in its integrity should now be 
the object of all true lovers of the Union. 

I am respectfully yours, 

J. Vanderpoel. 

From Francis Kernan. 

Utica, July 2, 1866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman : 

Dear Sir— The invitation of the Tammany Society to take part 
in its celebration of the approaching Anniversary of our Indepen- 
dence is received. I am gratified and feel complimented by the 
invitation, and regret that it is not in my power to be present with 
the members of the Society on the occasion. I cordially concur in 
the patriotic sentiments as to the Union of the States under the 
Constitution expressed in the invitation. Please make to the 
Society my respectful acknowledgments, and believe me to be 

Yours truly, 

Francis Kernan. 

From Edivin Crostvell. 

New York, June 30, 1 866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, Hon. John Kelly, and others : 

Gentlemen — I have the honor to receive your invitation to take 
part with the Tammany Society in its celebration of the approach- 
ing Anniversary of our National Independence. 

Beheving, with you, that the Union was created to be perpetual ; 
that the States are equal under the Constitution ; that the restora- 
tion of the Union by the recent war ought to be acknowledged and 



88 Tamma7iy Society. 

recognised by all the departments of the Federal Government ; that 
a spirit of fraternity and magnanimity should prevail in all our 
councils and policy ; and that the South, having accepted the lessons 
of the war and relinquished the heresies of secession, should be at 
once admitted to her constitutional representation — I cordially 
respond to your invitation, and shall be with you unless my condi- 
tion of health deprives me of the privilege of participating in the 
festivities of the occasion. 

Very respectfully, your fellow-citizen, 

Edwin Croswell. 

Fi'-om John K. Hackett. 

IsLip, L. I., Jidy 4, 1866. 
Hon. Robert C. Hutchings : 

Dear Sir — I have tried to reach New York to-day, but am 
stopped eii rojite by illness. 

Permit me to request you to hand the enclosed check for fifty 
dollars to the treasurer as my contribution, and to further contribute 
the following sentiment : 

The Grand Sachem of the United States, Andrew Johnson — May 
he soon have at his belt all Radical scalps, leaving them their 
brains, and before another Fourth of July may he assemble the 
whole nation around council fires, smoking the pipe of peace. 

Yery truly yours, 

John K. Hackett. 

From the Hon. James F. Pierce. 

New York, July i, 1866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sachem Tammany Society : 

Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the invita- 
tion of the Tammany Society to take part in its celebration of the 
coming Anniversary of our National Independence. 

I regret exceedingly that an engagement, previously contracted, 
will necessitate my absence from the city at that time, and deprive 
me the pleasure of accepting the same. 

At this particular period in our National history, it would afford 
me more than ordinary satisfaction to join with the patriots of Tam- 
many in celebrating the Anniversary of the day which gave us 
homes to love, and a country worthy our warmest devotion, as well 
as to take note of the ancient landmarks. 

It is eminently proper that a Society which has always been fore- 



Seve7ity-Eighik Celebration. 89 

most as a defender of Constitutional rights, and an unwavering and 
staunch sujiporter of the Union, should at this time take occasion 
to reassert those principles which have been the groundwork of our 
National prosperity and greatness, and a strict adherence to which 
can alone lead us out of the anarchy and confusion of recent events, 
to a just, a perfect, and an enduring National Independence and 
Union. 

I am, sir, with respect. 

Your obedient servant, 

James F. Pierce. 

From the Hon. B. F. Delano. 

Navy Yard, New York, June 1% 1866. 
Hon. John T. Hoffman, Grand Sachem : 

Sir — Permit me to thank you for the invitation to be present at 
the celebration of the Tammany Society, to be held on the 4th of 
July, 1866. 

Previous engagements will prevent my personal attendance, but 
my heart is with all patriotic ceremonies that pertain to the good of 
our glorious land. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

B. F. Delano. 



Letters were received from several other dis- 
tinguished gentlemen, but too late for publication. 



APPENDIX. 



(From the New York Herald, July ^th.) 
THE TAMMANY SOCIETY. 
The ninetieth anniversary of our national independence was 
appropriately celebrated yesterday by the Tammany Society. The 
Grand Council Chamber was tastefully decorated with national flags, 
and marble busts of Washington, Clay, Jackson, Webster, and 
Franklin were placed in prominent positions. Bannerets, with the 
arms of the thirteen original States, patriotic mottoes, and" other 
similar devices, were suspended from the walls. At the back of the 
rostrum the bust of Washington occupied the post of honor. Draped 
around the pedestal was a magnificent silk flag, and suspended from 
the ceiling hung a placard bearing the motto : " One country, one 
constitution, one destiny," 1776, 1866. Over the bust of Andrew 
Jackson was the motto—" The Union must and shall be preserved." 
Above that of Daniel Webster, " Eternal hostiHty to every form of 
tyranny," and above Benjamin Franklin's marble Hkeness were the 
words, " Civil and religious liberty, the rights of man." Between the 
busts of Jackson and Webster was hung a large-sized, black-bordered 
tablet containing the names of the departed braves of the Order. 

The exercises commenced at noon with the performance of a 
number of national and patriotic airs by the Tammany Regiment 
Band. At one o'clock the sachems, warriors, and chiefs of the order 
entered the large hall in full regaha, as follows :— Hon. John T. 
HoflTman, Richard O'Gorman, Edwards Pierrepont, Samuel S. Cox, 
Samuel G. Courtney, August Belmont, Andrew H. Green, Thomas 
W. Gierke, Douglas Taylor, Isaac Bell, M. T. Brennan, Edward H. 
Anderson, Morgan Jones, Joseph B. Nicholson, P. B. Sweeny, 
Richard B. Connolly, J. R. Brodhead, John J. Bradley, and Eli P. 
Norton. 

Hon. John T. Hoffman and other gentlemen who were to take part 
in the exercises occupied seats on the platform. The room was well 
filled with an enthusiastic audience, and the meeting was called to 
order by Grand Sachem John T. Hoffman, who delivered the fol- 
lowing address : {The proceedings follow :\ 



92 Tammany Society. 

(From the New York Daily Times.) 

THE TAMMANY CELEBRATION 

Of this day has for years been a prominent part of its public honorings. 
Of late years it has attracted less attention for obvious reasons, but 
on this occasion its former prestige was revived, and the popular 
interest in its doings justifies the following record. 

Whatever may have been the character of the Fourth of July 
demonstrations by the Sachems, Warriors, and Chiefs of Old Tam- 
many in days gone and past, when the Democracy was in what has 
been called its "palmy days," that of yesterday was certainly a 
triumph in the way of political and patriotic celebration. The 
patronly old man of the " Wigwam " did not " show his teeth," but 
rather spread out his arms after the most evangelical method and 
said, "Welcome all who take for their guide and director the 
Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United 
States." To begin with, the " Wigwam " was not the rude hut which 
the title would imply. It was a tastefully decorated hall, comfortably 
seated, with a platform at one end, after the form of our modern 
civilization. What would Tammany be without its platform .'' But 
we must glance at the ornaments. Against this there is no law. 
Of the artistic hands which had been tried upon the busts of 
Washington, Webster, and one or two other historic names, it is 
hoped that oblivion will be kind to them for their treachery. After 
looking upon them, the " What-is-it ? " in the City Hall Park may be 
forgiven for assuming to represent any known personage, past or 
present. 

To the right of the platform was the following motto : 

The Democratic Party — Upon its union and success depend tlie future of the Republic. 
He who would seek to lower its standard of patriotism and principle, or to distract or divide 
its councils, is an enemy to the country." 

Over the platform was the following : 

" One Country, one Constitution, one Destiny. 
1776 (oust of Washington), 1866." 

To the left of the platform was the following : 

The Taminany Society, founded in 1789. — In its ver>' foundation identified with the 
establishment of the Union. Ever faithful to its obligations, she has added another proof 
of her devotion by sending forth her sons to protect and maintain it." 

Over the bust of Henry Clay : 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 93 

"A union of hearts, a union of hands, 
A union of States, none can sever ; 
A union of lakes, a union of lands, 
And the flag of our Union forever." 

Over the bust of Jackson : 

" The Union must and shall be preserved." 

On the centre of the north wall was the following in memoriam 
inscription : 

The Memory of the Departed Braves ! 

Shepard, Clanc)^ 

Vosburg, Conner, 

Froment, Kennedy, 

Purdy. 

Over the bust of Webster : 

"Eternal hostility to every form of tyranny." 

Over the bust of Franklin : 

" Civil and religious liberty, the rights of man." 
BANNERS. 

Beginning to the left of the room on entering is the State insignia 
of Massachusetts, then New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, 
Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, Georgia, New York, New Jersey. 

The ceiling was almost obscured by the profuse display of bunting, 
which was gracefully hung from the centre of the chandelier, and 
radiating therefrom to all corners and sides of the hall. The walls 
were tastefully hung with American flags of all sizes, and the stand 
was literally a mass of Stars and Stripes. 

The whole display was creditable, and Mr. Andrew J. Garvey, 
of the Committee on Decorations, deserves praise for the good taste 
observed in the disposition of the gay and festive materials put into 
his hands for the fitting up of Tammany Hall on this occasion. 

The choir for the occasion was constituted of twenty-six boys from 
several of the Public Schools, whose rendering of the songs, " My 
Country, 'tis of Thee," and " The Boys come Marching," was a 
creditable assurance that the musical education of the boys of New 
York is not by any means neglected in our Common Schools. The 
singing was under the direction of Prof Olney. 

The Tammany Band was an efficient instrumentality in the cele- 
bration, and its members evidently determined not to be overshadowed 
by the voices of the schoolboys. 



94 Tammany Society. 

At one o'clock the Grand Sachem, preceded by the inevitable 
Brother Roome, with the rod of power, surmounted by the largest 
cap of Liberty in New York, escorted the Grand Sachem, Hon. John 
T. Hoffman, into the " Wigwam," followed by a host of Sachems, 
Warriors and Chiefs, among whom were observed Hon. Richard 
O'Gorman, Corporation Counsel, Hon. Edwards Pierrepont, Hon. 
Samuel S. Cox, Hon. Samuel G. Courtney, August Belmont, Andrew 
H. Green, Hon. Thomas W. Gierke, Douglas Taylor, Isaac Bell, 
Hon. M. T. Brennan, Hon. Edward H. Anderson, Hon. Morgan 
Jones, James B. Nicholson, P. B. Sweeny, Hon. Richard B. Connolly, 
J. R. Brodhead, John J. Bradley, Eli P. Norton. 

After the Sachems, etc., had been comfortably seated around the 
fire, the Grand Sachem, Hon. John T. Hoffman, rose in their midst, 
and, looking round upon all, said : \TJie proceedings follow.'l 



(From the New York Daily Nctvs.) 
TAMMANY SOCIETY CELEBRATION. " 

The celebration of our national anniversary at Tammany Hall, 
yesterday, under the auspices of Tammany Society, equalled any 
festivity of the kind that was ever held within the walls of the " old 
Wigwam." The large hall where the exercises were held was most 
tastefully and appropriately decorated. The back of the hall was 
covered with a large national flag, which was flanked on each side by 
a smaller one, pendant from the corners. Small flags were also 
transversely placed on each panel of the walls, on every other one of 
which was displayed an escutcheon of one of the original States — 
thirteen in all. Extending from the chandeliers in the four corners 
of the wigwam, and meeting in the centre of the ceiling, were 
streamers of red, white and blue ; while to the centre chandelier were 
attached six national flags, pendant. On the right-hand side of the 
wigwam were placed, at equal distances, life-size busts of Franklin, 
Webster, Jackson, and Clay. Immediately behind the Grand 
Sachem's (Mayor Hoffman's) seat, was placed a bust of Washington, 
draped on either side with the American flag. 

On the right-hand side of the Grand Sachem's seat was the fol- 
lowing motto : 

The Detnocratic Party — Upon its union and success depend the future of the Republic- 
He who would seek to lower its standard of patriotism and principle, or to distract or divide 
its councils, is an enemy to the country." 



Seventy-Eighth Celebration. 95 

ImmecMately over the seat of the Grand Sachem, and behind the 
bust of Washington, was the following : 

" One Country, one Constitution, one Destiny. 
1776 (bust of Washington), 1866." 

On the left of the Grand Sachem was the following motto : 

"The Tammany Society, foimded in 1789.— In its very foundation identified with the 
establishment of the Union. Ever faithful to its obligations, she has added another proof 
of her devotion by sending forth her sons to protect and maintain it." 

"The Union must and shall be preseri'ed." 

To the Memory 0/ the DeJ'arted Braves : 

Shepard, Clancy, 

Vosburg, Conner, 

Froment, Kennedy, 

Purdy. 

" Eternal hostility to every form of tyranny." 

" Civil and religious liberty, the rights of man." 

" A union of hearts, a union of hands, 
A union of States none can sever ; 
A union of lakes, a union of lands, 
And the flag of our Union forever." 

A very large assemblage filled the hall long before the advertised 
hour for the commencement of the exercises. The Tammany band, 
seated on the balcony, performed several national airs previous to the 
commencement of the exercises. At one o'clock precisely the 
sachems, chiefs, and warriors marched into the wigwam, headed by 
His Honor Mayor Hoffman, Grand Sachem, and the Hon. Richard 
O'Gorman, orator of the day. Following these, each bearing the 
scarf and badge of old Tammany, were the Hon. ex-Judge Pierre- 
pont, Hon. S. S. Cox, Hon. Samuel G. Courtney, August Belmont, 
Andrew H. Green, Judge Thomas W. Gierke, Douglas Taylor, Isaac 
Bell, Matthew T. Brennan, City Controller, Hon. Edward H. Ander- 
son, Hon. Morgan Jones, Hon. James B. Nicholson, Hon. John Kelly, 
Sheriff of the County of New York, Peter B. Sweeny, Richard B. 
Connolly, J. R. Brodhead, John J. Bradley, Hon. Eli P. Norton, and 
other members of the Tammany Society. These having taken their 
positions on the rostrum, the band on the balcony struck up the 
"Star-Spangled Banner," after which the regular exercises were 
opened by the Grand Sachem, His Honor Mayor Hoffman. [ The 
proceedings follow ^^ 



96 Tammany Society. 

(From the New York World.) 
THE TAMMANY CELEBRATION. 

Addresses by Grand Sachem Hoffman, Richard O'Gorman, 
Edwards Pierrepont, and Hon. S. S. Cox — Letters from 
THE President and his Cabinet. 

The Tammany Society, according to its time-honored and patriotic 
custom, yesterday celebrated the Anniversary of Independence at 
Tammany Hall by interesting and appropriate exercises. The doors 
were opened at twelve o'clock, and the Tammany Regiment band 
performed national airs on the balcony until one o'clock — the time 
of the commencement of the exercises. A very large and respectable 
audience assembled, who listened with enthusiasm to the speeches, 
readings, and singing. 

The hall was splendidly decorated with flags and banners. The 
platform was draped with a magnificent American flag, and above it 
was a bust of Washington, with the motto : " One Country, one 
Constitution, one Destiny. 1776 — 1866." 

At one side of the platform was the motto : " The Tammany 
Society, founded in 1789. In its very foundation identified with the 
establishment of the Union ; ever faithful to her obligations, she has 
added another proof of her devotion by sending forth her sons to 
protect and maintain it." 

At the other side was the motto : " The Democratic party — Upon 
its union and success depend the future of the Republic. He who 
would seek to lower its standard of patriotism and principle, or to 
divide or distract its councils, is an enemy to the country." 

Busts of Henry Clay, Jackson, Webster, and Franklin occupied 
the right side of the room, as also the mottoes : 

" A union of hearts, a union of hands, 
A union of States none can sever ; 
A union of lakes, a union of lands, 
And the flag of our Union forever." 

" The Union must and shall be preserved," over the bust of 
Jackson ; " Eternal hostility to every form of tyranny," over the bust 
of Webster ; and " Civil and religious liberty, the rights of man," 
over the bust of Franklin. 

In the centre of the right side was a banner embroidered with 
black, reading as follows : 



Seventy-EigJith Celebration. 97 

The Memory of the Departed Braves : 
Shepard, Clancy, 

Vosburg, Conner, 

Froment, Kennedy, 

Purdy. 

The coats-of-arms of each of the original thirteen States were also 
liung in appi'opriate position. 

At one o'clock the officers of the society and guests entered the 
hall two by two, with the appropriate badges, Hon. John T. Hoffman, 
Grand Sachem, and Hon. Richard O'Gorman, the Orator of the Day, 
leading. Among the other gentlemen who then entered were Edwards 
Pierrepont, Samuel G. Courtney, Samuel S. Cox, August Belmont, 
John Kelly, Andrew H. Green, Thomas W. Gierke, Douglas Taylor, 
Isaac Bell, M. T. Brennan, Edward H. Anderson, Morgan Jones, 
James B. Nicholson, Peter B. Sweeny, Richard B. Connolly, J. R. 
Brodhead, John J. Bradley, Eh P. Norton, and others. These gen- 
tlemen took their seats on the platform. [The proceedings folloiu.'] 



(From the Ahnu YorJz Leader.) 
THE FOURTH AT OLD TAMMANY. 

The celebration of the glorious Fourth in this city was unexpect- 
edly brilliant. Thanks to the Mayor and the Comptroller, fireworks 
-were provided for all the public Parks, although the weather prevented 
them from being displayed except at Tompkins Square. There was 
a fine parade of military in the morning, and all day long the citizens 
thronged the streets and enjoyed themselves heartily and patriotically. 
Fortunately, few accidents marred the public pleasure, and, on the 
whole, the Fourth of July, 1866, was an occasion to be long 
remembered. 

It is conceded by all parties, and by the unanimous press, however, 
that the great feature of the celebration was the grand meeting at 
Tammany Hall, under the auspices of the venerable Tammany 
Societv. The Old Wigwam was in all its glory. The chiefs and 
warriors felt that the eyes of the whole country were upon them as 
they sat around the council fire, and that every ear was open to their 
words of wisdom and of peace. There was no other attempt at a 
national celebration in any part of the land, and, as the letters which 
we shall shortly introduce clearly show, all our leading statesmen 
regarded the Tammany gathering as designed for the whole country 
— as, in fact, it was. 

5 



98 Tanirnany Society. 

The Wigwam, hallowed by so many noble memories, was most 
appropriately decorated upon this remarkable anniversary. To the 
Committee who had charge of this matter, and especially to Messrs. 
Nathaniel Jarvis, Jr., Andrew J. Garvey, James Watson, and James 
B. Nicholson, the thanks of the Society and all who participated are 
gratefully due. These gentlemen, with Mayor Hoffman and the 
other members of the Committee, organized a success. They took 
care that not a single detail, however slight, was neglected, and exer- 
cised a careful supervision over every part of the celebration from 
first to last. The result was a national festival unparalleled even in 
the history of Old Tammany, although there have been so many 
glorious festivals the records of which grace her annals. Never 
before was everything so perfect, complete, and satisfactory. 

The doors of Tammany Hall were opened precisely at noon, and 
the Tammany band performed patriotic airs from the balcony until 
one o'cldck. Early comers had leisure, therefore, to examine the 
decorations minutely. The platform was draped with the American 
flag. Above it was a bust of Washington, with the almost sacred 
motto : " One Country, one Constitution, one Destiny. 1776 — 1S66." 
At one side of the platform was the motto : " The Tammany Society, 
founded in 1789. In its very foundation identified with the establish- 
ment of the Union. Ever faithful to its obligations, she has added 
another proof of her devotion by sending forth her sons to protect 
and maintain it." At the other side was the motto : " The Demo- 
cratic party — Upon its union and success depend the future of the 
Republic. He who would seek to lower its standard of patriotism 
and principle, or to divide or distract its counsels, is an enemy to the 
country." Busts of Jackson, Clay, Webster, and Benjamin Frankhn 
ornamented the right of the room, with the mottoes : " The Union 
must and shall be preserved," " Eternal hostility to every form of 
tyranny," and " Civil and Religious Liberty, the rights of man." 
The coats-of-arms of the original thirteen States adorned the walls. 
A verse from the " Flag of our Union " reminded the audience of the 
brotherhood of hearts and hands, as well as of States. In a conspi- 
cuous position hung a solemn banner, embroidered with black and 
inscribed : 

To the Mctnory of the Departed Braves : 

Shepard, Clancy, 

Vosburg, Conner, 

Froment, Kennedy, 

Purdy. 

At one o'clock the officers and orators of the Society entered the 



Scvcnly-EigJith Celebration. 99 

Hall amid general applause. Ma3-or Hoflman and Hon. Richard 
O'Gorman led the procession, and following them we noticed 
Edwards Pierrepont, Samuel G. Courtney, Samuel S. Cox, August 
Belmont, John Kell}', Andrew H. Green, Thomas W. Gierke, Andrew 
J. Garvey, Isaac Bell, JM. T. Brennan, Edward H. Anderson, Morgan 
Jones, James B. Nicholson, Peter B. Sweeny, Richard B. Connolly, 
|. R. Brodhead, John J. Bradley, Eli P. Norton, and others, all 
wearing the appropriate scarfs and badges of Old Tammany. These 
warriors and sachems with their guests having taken seats upon the 
platform, his Honor Mayor Hoffman, Grand Sachem, welcomed the 
assemblage to the Wigwam in a speech so eloquent, so cordial, and 
so unlike the ordinary set phrases of such occasions, that the audience 
were roused to genuine enthusiasm. Twenty-four boys from our 
pubhc schools, led by the celebrated Professor Olney, sang " The 
Star-Spangled Banner" in a style which was univ-ersally applauded. 
The Hon. Edward H. Anderson next read the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence in a clear, manly voice, expressive of the tone and senti- 
ments of this great charter of our liberties, and applause greeted 
every sentence as it fell from the lips of the reader. " My Country, 
'tis of Thee," was sung by the school-boys ; Mr. Henry Morford 
recited his poem, " England and America," written especially for the 
celebration, and then Assistant District- Attorney Robert C. Hutch- 
ings read selections from the following A-ery important and able 
letters, for which, in spite of their length, we ask an unusually careful 
perusal. \^The letters follow P\ 

The various patriotic points in these letters, and particularly those 
which recognise the nationality of the Tammany Society and its prac- 
tical devotion to the Union, were received with enthusiastic cheers. 
In these letters from the great men of the Republic will be found the 
best answer to the malignant partisan slanders against the Society 
published in yesterday's Tribmie. When Mr. Hutchings had 
finished reading them, the Hon. Richard O'Gorman, Corporation 
Counsel, was formally introduced to the audience, who already knew 
and admired him. In a speech of unsurpassed beauty and eloquence, 
delivered with all the graces of the best school of oratory, and with 
all the fervor of a true Democrat, Mr. O'Gorman revived the legends 
of the Society, reviewed the history of the war, and dwelt upon the 
duty of all genuine patriots during this Northern Rebellion, which 
has succeeded that of the South. Certainl)-, in- all Mr. O'Gorman's 
long public career he has never equalled this Fourth of July oration, 
which was as far removed from the common routine of stump speeches 
as the whole celebration excelled the ordinary Fourth of July cere- 



lOO Taniinany Society. 

monies. His glowing sentences were emphasized by frequent out- 
breaks of patriotism, and as he concluded with a peroration as 
ornate as the jewelled sky on a midsummer's night, the audience rose 
and cheered him with a spirit that rocked the cradle of Democracy 
to its very centre. The Hon. S. S. Cox and Judge Edwards Pierre- 
pont— the latter of whom nominated Mayor Hoftman for our next 
Governor, amid vmanimous applause — followed in capital but brief 
speeches, and the meeting then adjourned, the chiefs and sachems 
remaining to partake of a sumptuous banquet, and to drink the 
healthful waters of the great spring. 

As a whole, taking the attendance, the decorations, the enthusiasm, 
the songs, the poem, the speeches, and the letters, it is conceded 
that this was the finest celebration ever held by the Tammany Society. 
It will be long remembered by all who were present, and our children 
and our children's children will speak of it as unprecedented, and 
■will strive to rival it upon future anniversaries of our National Inde- 
pendence. Compared with it no political convention, composed of 
the odds and ends of ruined and corrupt parties, can exert any 
influence over the masses of the people. It truly represented the 
popular sentiment, and by hundreds of letters which reach Mayor 
Hoffman, the Chairman of the Executive Committee, by every mail, 
it is most cordially indorsed as a real National Convention, and as 
such it will be regarded wherever its utterances are heard or read. 
The leading daily press of this city, and, indeed, of the whole country, 
showed their appreciation of its importance by their remarkably full 
and complete reports, and we need make no apology for surrendering 
so much of our space this week to a sketch of an occasion so fraught 
with interest to everv reader. 



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